on 

Cburcb  flbusic. 


Series  HI, 

READ   AT   THIRD    [NEW   YORK,  1900] 
AND   FOURTH    [BUFFALO,    1901]  CONVOCATIONS. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/essaysonchurchmuOOunse 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

1.  Where  Must  We  Begin  in  Order  to  Improve 

THE  Quality  of  the  Music  Used  in  Our 
Churches?         -         .         .         .         _  i 
Thk  Rev.  J.  F.  Ohi,,  Mus.  Doc. 

2.  What  Can  Be  Done  to  Introduce  Our  German 

Chorai^  into  Our  Engi^ish  I^utheran  Con- 
gregations ?       -         -         -         -         -  9 

Mr.  W11.1.1AM  Benbow. 

3.  The  Interpretative  Use  of  the  Organ  in  the 

Service   ------  12 

The  Rev.  Geo.  C.  F.  Haas,  D.  D. 

4.  The  Child  and  Music        -  -  -  -  18 

The  Rev.  G.  C.  Berkemeier,  D.  D. 

5.  Church  Music  as  a  Part  of  Our  Educational 

System     -         -         -         -         -         -  29 

The  Rev.  R.  Morris  Smith. 

6.  The  lyOCATioN  of  the  Choir  and  the  Organ      -  43 

The  Rev.  Geo.  C.  F.  Haas,  D.  D. 

7.  The  Proposed  Summer  School  for  Church  Music  49 

The  Rev.  Luther  d.  Reed. 

8.  Boy  Choirs    ------  61 

The  Rev.  A.  L.  Steimi^e. 

9.  Early  I^utheran  Choir  Music      -         -         -  71 

The  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

10.  The  Deterioration  of  Choir  Music         -         -  88 

The  Rev.  J.  F.  Ohi,,  Mus.  Doc. 

11.  Church  Choir  Training      -         -         -         -  98 

Mr.  C.  a.  Marks. 

12.  Preludes  AND  Postludks     -         -         -         -  105 

Mr.  C.  a.  Marks. 

13.  Pastor  AND  Organist         -         -         -         -  no 

The  Rev.  Prof.  A.  Spaeth,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 


WHERE  MUST  WE  BEGIN  IN  ORDER  TO  IMPROVE 
THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  MUSIC  USED 
IN  OUR  CHURCHES? 


BY  THE  REV.  J.  F.  OHL,  MUS.  DOC. 


The  question  before  us  implies  two  things:  First,  that  in  the 
vast  majority  of  our  churches  the  quality  of  the  music  used  is 
not  what  it  should  be;  and,  secondly,  that  we  have  done  little  or 
nothing  to  improve  it.  In  discussing  the  subject  I  shall  have  in 
mind  chiefly  the  conditions  that  confront  us  in  many  of  our  En- 
glish churches. 

I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  in  criticising  the  music 
of  these  I  run  the  risk  of  incurring  much  disfavor.  Do  we  not 
have  many  skilful  manipulators  of  the  organ  keys?  Are  not 
many  of  our  so-called  choirs  composed  of  four  voices  that  have 
had  months  and  years  of  special  training?  Does  not  their  sing- 
ing serve  to  fill  the  house  of  God,  and  to  give  pleasure  to  the  list- 
ener? Are  not  the  responses  and  chants,  the  hymn- tunes  and 
anthems  of  precisely  that  light,  airy  and  mellifluous  kind  in  which 
most  people  are  supposed  to  delight?  What  fault  then  can  be 
found  with  a  musical  service  that  has  all  this  in  its  favor? 

But  it  is  at  this  very  point  that  the  issue  must  be  made. 
Church  Music  that  really  deserves  the  name  is  not  for  entertain- 
ment. No  strains  should  ever  be  heard  in  the  house  of  God  that 
do  not  befit  its  character  as  a  place  of  reverent  worship,  or  that 
interfere  with  the  pious  contemplations  of  the  worshiping  soul, 
or  that  fail  to  give  faithful  expression  to  its  spirit  of  worship. 
Yet  one  need  not  go  into  many  of  our  churches,  even  into  some 


2 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC, 


claiming  to  have  the  best  music,  to  find  how  completely  the  con- 
nection with  our  own  musical  and  hymnological  history  has  been 
broken,  and  how  absolute  has  been  the  surrender  to  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  and  to  the  influence  and  the  practice  of  those  about  us. 
The  org-anist  begins  the  service  with  a  voluntary  that  fits  neither 
the  place  nor  the  season,  and  closes  it  with  the  March  from 
''Tannhauser/'  The  service  music  is  perhaps  patched  together 
of  such  odds  and  ends  from  every  conceivable  source  as  please  the 
fancy  of  the  maker,  without  any  regard  whatever  to  liturgical 
traditions,  requirements  and  propriety,  or  even  to  proper  key 
relationships.  The  hymn-tunes  are  as  a  rule  not  those  which 
have  ever  been  the  crowning  glory  of  our  own  Church  music,  nor 
even  the  stately  melodies  that  have  survived  from  the  earlier  and 
best  period  of  Anglican  Church  song,  but,  with  a  few  notable 
exceptions,  too  often  the  shallow  compositions  of  a  novice  in 
Church  music  or  the  adaptations  of  an  irreverent  compiler.  And 
above  all  is  devotional  feeling  offended  and  the  worshiping  con- 
gregation deprived  of  many  of  its  rights  in  those  churches  in 
which  that  very  un-Lutheran  product  —  the  quartet  choir,  holds 
sway. 

All  this  is,  however,  in  conflict  with  the  principles  which 
underlie  the  I^utheran  Cultus  and  does  violence  to  those  that 
really  come  to  worship.  The  Church  has  a  musical  art  of  her 
own  as  she  has  her  own  pictorial  and  plastic  art;  and  the  object 
of  all  Church  art  must  be  to  excite  and  express  devotion.  When 
it  becomes  so  secularized  as  to  cease  to  do  this;  when  beauty  in- 
stead of  holiness  is  made  its  supreme  law;  when  it  appeals  only 
to  the  intellect  and  not  to  the  heart,  then  it  no  longer  serves  its 
proper  purpose  in  worship  and  tends  only  to  disturb  and  distract. 

Music  as  the  most  expressive  and  widely  used  of  the  Church's 
arts  should  above  all  conform  to  the  canons  that  must  regulate 
all  Church  art.  The  music  of  the  Church  must  therefore  in  the 
truest  and  best  sense  be  worship  music.  Whether  it  be  the 
organ  voluntary,  or  the  liturgical  response,  or  the  congregational 
hymn- tune,  or  the  polyphonic  song  of  the  choir,  each  and  all 
must  give  truthful  expression  to  the  faith,  hope  and  love,  the 
penitence,  joy  and  praise  wrought  by  the  Word  as  embodied  in 
Liturgy  and  Sermon.  And  when  this  fails  to  be  the  case  where 
must  we  begin  in  order  to  bring  about  a  wholesome  change? 

To  my  mind  the  first  step  toward  a  substantial  reform  lies 


IMPROVEMKNT  OF  OUR  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


3 


in  the  direction  of  the  organist,  who,  in  our  churches,  is  usually 
also  the  choir-master.  What  should  be  his  qualifications  for  this 
double  office? 

First  and  foremost,  he  should  be  a  devout  man.  In  public 
worship  he  occupies  a  place  of  importance  second  only  to  that  of 
the  minister  himself.  He  is,  so  to  speak,  the  musical  pastor  of 
the  church.  With  the  opportunities  at  his  command  he  can  do 
a  great  deal  to  further  devotion,  and  a  very  great  deal  to  hinder 
it.  The  latter  he  is  almost  sure  to  do  if  he  be  not  a  Christian. 
How  can  one  who  does  not  himself  know  the  saving,  life-giving 
power  of  the  Divine  Word,  and  who  has  not  for  himself  tasted 
the  boundless  grace  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus,  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  that  w^orship  which  only  God's  Word  and  grace  can  beget? 
How  can  he  have  a  holy  reverence  for  the  place  which  to  him  is 
not  really  "the  house  of  prayer?"  How  can  he  feel  what  befits 
the  holy  place  and  its  holy  services,  and  what  not?  The  man 
who  treats  an  organist's  position  merely  professionally  for  what  he 
can  make  out  of  it,  and  who  perhaps  plays  in  a  theatre  orchestra 
for  the  rest  of  the  week,  has  no  business  on  an  organist's  bench; 
nor  is  it  conceivable  how  a  Christian  congregation  that  wants  a 
godly  man  in  its  pulpit  can  ever  give  the  next  most  important 
place  to  one  who  is  not. 

Again,  the  organist  and  choir-master  should  be  musically 
well-educated.  He  should  not  only  be  technically  proficient  on  his 
instrument,  but  also  be  conversant  with  the  history  of  music  — 
especially  with  that  of  Church  music  from  its  earliest  beginnings, 
and  know  the  phases  through  which  this  has  passed,  the  influ- 
ences it  has  encountered,  etc.  In  addition  to  this  he  should  also 
have  a  large  acquaintance  wath  the  music  of  the  different  periods 
and  schools.  He  should  be  as  familiar  with  the  ancient  Plain 
Song  as  with  the  Modern  Chant;  with  the  a  capella  works  of  di 
Lassus,  Palestrina,  Hassler,  Eccard  and  others,  as  with  the  works 
of  more  recent  composers;  with  the  stately  and  vigorous  choral 
melodies  of  our  own  Church  as  with  the  best  tunes  from  other 
sources;  with  the  substantial  compositions  of  Bach  and  his  school 
for  the  organ,  as  with  the  pleasing  yet  oft-times  far  less  church- 
ly  writings  of  the  present.  Only  when  the  organist  and  choir- 
master has  knowledge  and  acquaintance  of  this  kind,  can  he 
intelligently  compare,  weigh  and  select. 

But  I  gc  further,  and  ask  for  Lutheran  organists  for  Luther- 


4 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


an  churches.  The  organist  and  choir-master  of  a  Lutheran 
church  ought  to  be  thoroughly  famiUar  with  the  principles  of 
Lutheran  worship,  and  with  the  structure,  requirements  and 
spirit  of  the  Lutheran  Orders  of  Service.  He  must  not  only  have 
liturgical  feeling  in  general,  but  Lutheran  liturgical  feeling  in 
particular.  I  here  note  a  decided  difference  between  other  litur- 
gical churches  and  our  own.  The  Liturgy  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  Churches  is  not  only  in  a  tongue  unknown  to  the  people, 
but  its  various  parts  are  sung  solely  by  priest  and  choir,  and  the 
people  remain  silent.  The  Anglican  Church  indeed  has  a  Liturgy 
in  the  vernacular,  but  in  the  practice  of  many  of  its  congrega- 
tions too  large  a  part  is  likewise  sung  by  the  choir.  The  Luther- 
an Church  on  the  contrary  has  a  Liturgy  whose  first  regard  is  for 
the  people.  Not  only  is  it  in  the  vernacular,  but  almost  from 
beginning  to  end  the  rubrics  direct:  Then  shall  the  congregation 
sing  or  say.  The  choir  indeed  has  its  place,  but  never  independ- 
ent of  and  superior  to  the  congregation.  It  has  no  right  to 
introduce  anything  that  would  destroy  the  unity  of  the  service. 
Even  its  own  music  must  be  an  outgrowth  of  the  Liturgy  as  ar- 
ranged for  the  particular  day,  season  or  occasion,  and  must  fit 
into  it  as  a  component  part  of  each  particular  service.  Now  to 
enable  the  organist  and  choir-master  to  choose  with  due  regard 
to  the  requirements  of  the  Liturgy  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  the 
rights  of  the  entire  worshiping  congregation  on  the  other,  he 
must  needs  be  well  acquainted  with  the  fundamental  principles 
of  Lutheran  worship.  It  is  the  lack  of  such  knowledge  that  in 
many  of  our  churches  is  responsible  for  music  in  which  there  is 
hardly  a  trace  of  the  true  Church  style,  and  that  has  transformed 
many  places  of  worship  into  mere  concert  halls. 

We  take  a  second  step  toward  reform  when  we  banish  that 
abomination  of  desolation  in  the  holy  place,  the  quartet  choir.  But 
what  has  this  to  do  w^ith  the  kind  of  music  used  ?  Much  every 
way.  As  a  rule  such  choirs  are  composed  of  professional  sing- 
ers— some  of  whom  may  not  even  be  professing  Christians,  whose 
first  thought  is  not  worship  but  the  display  of  their  art.  This 
has  brought  into  use  numerous  compositions  written  especially 
for  these  choirs,  in  which  churchliness  is  sacrificed  to  the  dramat- 
ic and  subjective  element,  and  which,  with  their  inevitable  solo 
parts,  afford  the  singer  the  greatly  desired  opportunity  to  exhibit 
his  or  her  vocal  ability.    Nothing  could  better  illustrate  the  de- 


IMPROVKMKNT  OF  OUR  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


5 


cay  into  which  Church  music  has  fallen  than  a  comparison  of 
these  compositions  with  the  motets  of  the  old  masters,  or  even 
with  the  best  full  anthems  of  the  Anglican  school.  Spitta  drives 
home  a  thought  on  this  subject  when  he  says:  "To  the  liberties 
taken  in  these  days  by  those  who  merely  seek  display  we  must 
oppose  the  clear  thought  that,  as  singers  in  the  sanctuary,  our 
aim  must  not  be  to  obtain  concert  effects  and  successes,  but  rath- 
er in  all  humility  to  bring  the  offering  of  our  devotions  before  the 
lyord,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  whose  members 
we  are,  to  magnify  that  faith  which  is  our  only  comfort  in  life 
and  in  death."  Nor  does  the  baneful  influence  of  the  quartet 
choir  cease  with  the  anthem.  For  the  same  selfish  reasons  that 
guide  it  in  the  selection  of  anthems,  its  choice  and  rendering  of 
hymn- tunes  and  chants  are  often  of  a  kind  to  silence  almost  com- 
pletely the  congregation.  Thus  what  Rome  accomplishes  through 
the  medium  of  an  unknown  tongue  is  in  many  of  our  churches 
brought  about  by  the  four  voices  in  the  organ  gallery. 

But  I  go  still  further  and  ask  for  a  musically  educated  ininis- 
try.  Indeed  for  securing  the  best  results  I  deem  this  altogether 
essential.  I  need  hardly  point  out  how  advantageous  it  is  to  the 
minister  himself  to  have  some  knowledge  of  music.  Aside  from 
the  pleasure  and  satisfaction  he  can  derive  from  it,  he  is  often 
placed  in  situations  where  the  ability  to  play  a  hymn-tune  or  to 
lead  the  singing  will  avoid  much  embarrassment.  But  of  still 
greater  advantage  is  it  to  a  congregation  to  have  a  minister  who 
can  help  to  give  intelligent  direction  to  its  musical  affairs.  If  in 
addition  to  some  technical  proficiency,  or  even  without  it,  he 
knows  something  of  the  history  of  Church  music,  understands 
the  requirements  of  the  I^iturgy,  and  has  a  fair  acquaintance  with 
the  best  music  of  the  past  and  present,  it  is  not  likely  that  his 
congregation  will  depart  very  widely  from  the  right  paths,  unless 
he  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  a  recalcitrant  and  unnecessary 
music  committee  to  deal  with.  As  a  rule,  congregations  will  as 
readily  follow  the  leadership  of  the  pastor  in  musical  matters  as 
in  other  affairs,  provided  he  shows  himself  competent  to  lead. 
All  other  things  being  equal  a  pastor  who  is  also  proficient  in 
music  is  indeed  often  preferred. 

For  improving  the  quality  of  our  Church  song  these  then 
seem  to  me  to  be  the  necessary  conditions:  i.  Christian  organ- 
ists who  to  their  piety  add  musical  knowledge,  and  to  their  mu- 


6 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


sical  knowledge  liturgical  understanding,  and  to  their  liturgical 
understanding  pure  taste,  and  to  their  pure  taste  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  house  of  God;  2.  Pastors  with  enough  knowledge  of 
the  w^hole  subject  to  co-operate  intelligently  with  a  model  organ- 
ist, or,  if  need  be,  to  direct  the  musical  affairs  of  the  congrega- 
tion themselves;  and  3,  the  banishment  of  quartet  choirs. 

But  our  main  theme  now  suggests  two  more  questions:  How 
may  we  get  such  organists  and  pastors  ?  and,  What  shall  take  the 
place  of  the  quartet  choir  ? 

To  get  such  organists  as  we  need  and  want,  and  to  give  pas- 
tors a  fair  musical  training,  we  ought  to  connect  Music  Schools 
with  our  Colleges  and  Theological  Seminaries.  This  is  not  a  new 
idea.  Music  and  sacred  poetry  were  taught  in  the  schools  of  the 
prophets.  David  founded  a  great  music  school  for  the  Temple 
service  almost  three  thousand  years  ago.  Gregory  and  Charle- 
magne established  similar  schools  for  the  cultivation  of  Christian 
Church  music.  At  this  very  day  such  schools  are  found  in  the 
Greek,  the  Roman,  and  the  Anglican  Churches.  In  our  own 
land  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Hartford,  Conn.,  has  had  a  professorship  of  Sacred  Music  since 
1882.  And  in  at  least  four  Colleges  of  our  own  Church — Beth- 
any, Augustana,  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  Thiel  there  are  well- 
equipped  musical  departments  that  cover  a  wide  range  of  instruc- 
tion and  practice. 

Why  should  not  all  our  Colleges  and  Seminaries  afford  like 
opportunities,  both  to  those  preparing  for  the  ministry  and  to 
those  who  wish  to  qualify  themselves  as  organists  ?  To  the  the- 
oretical and  practical  instruction  of  such  a  department,  lectures 
should  be  added  on  subjects  like  these:  The  Church's  lyiturgy; 
^  Early  Christian  Music;  Plain  Song;  Catholic  Church  Music;  Prot- 
estant Church  Music;  The  Influence  of  the  Opera  and  the  Ora- 
torio on  Church  Music;  The  Anglican  Chant;  The  Motet  and 
Anthem;  The  Hymn  and  the  Congregational  Hymn  Tune;  The 
German  Choral  and  its  History;  The  Relations  of  Minister, 
Choir  and  Congregation  in  the  Service;  The  Organ  in  Public 
Worship;  Choir  Training,  etc.,  etc.  Finally  a  mixed  chorus 
should  afford  facilities  for  the  practice  of  service  music,  hymn- 
tunes,  and  the  best  choir  music  both  for  illustrative  purposes  and 
for  permanent  use.  If  with  such  provision  as  this  our  music 
failed  to  improve,  it  would  no  longer  be  the  fault  of  the  Church. 


IMPROVKMKNT  OF  OUR  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


7 


As  regards  the  second  question,  to  wit:  What  shall  take 
the  place  of  the  quartet  choir?  I  can  only  point  for  the  answer 
to  the  practice  of  our  own  Church  wherever  she  has  not  fallen 
under  pernicious  influences.  The  Lutheran  choir  is  always  a 
chorus  choir,  and  this  must  again  take  the  place  of  the  quartet 
choir.  But  is  it  possible  to  have  such  choirs  in  our  English 
churches?  Yes,  when  once  our  English  congregations  will  spend 
as  much  in  developing  their  own  musical  resources  as  they  now 
spend  on  hired  singers.  At  a  much  smaller  outlay  our  German 
churches  still  maintain  chorus  choirs,  and  what  is  possible  in 
these  is  possible  in  English  congregations,  especially  in  those  that 
have  large  Sunday-schools  and  Young  People's  Societies  to  fur- 
nish an  abundance  of  material.  That  it  requires  more  labor  to 
train  and  keep  together  a  good  chorus  choir  no  one  who  has  had 
the  experience  will  dispute.  But  wh}^  should  not  an  organist  of 
the  kind  I  have  described  find  in  this  labor  for  God's  house  and 
God's  glory  the  very  greatest  delight?  Why  should  not  congre- 
gations insist  on  having  such  a  body  of  singers  as  will  aid  their 
devotions  and  encourage  and  strengthen  their  own  song?  And 
why  should  they  not  be  willing  to  give  a  competent  organist  and 
choir-master  a  salary  large  enough  to  enable  him  to  give  his  best 
energies  to  his  office  ? 

It  is  not  to  our  credit  that  the  Church  of  the  Reformation, 
with  its  rich  hymnological  and  musical  treasures  should  in  this 
land  have  hitherto  done  so  little  to  foster  a  taste  for  the  purest 
and  best.  We  have  restored  our  Eiturgy  in  its  noble  complete- 
ness for  all  seasons  and  occasions;  we  have  put  into  our  hymn 
books  many  precious  lyrics  old  and  new;  now  let  us  place  Liturgy 
and  hymns  into  the  golden  censer  of  which  they  are  worthy,  and 
in  which  alone  we  should  offer  our  incense  of  pra5^er,  praise  and 
thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God.  A  suggestion  made  by  Thibaut 
regarding  the  hymn- tune  and  the  music  for  the  organ  applies 
with  equal  force  to  all  the  other  nmsic  used  in  Divine  worship. 
He  says:  "If  I  were  now  shortly  to  express  my  wishes,  I  would 
say — make  a  collection  of  the  best  church-song,  hearty,  vigorous, 
and  fervent;  choose  for  this  purpose  the  finest  melodies  that  the 
old  churches  have  left  to  us,  including  everything  that  in  mod- 
ern times  masterly  minds  have  added  to  them;  and  lastly  provide 
organists  with  *  a  collection  of  approved  preludes  and  post- 
ludes,  so  that  they  can  never  waver  or  wander  from  the  path. 


8 


ASSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


But  do  not  do  all  this  in  a  mean  and  paltry  spirit,  under  the 
advice  of  inferior  men.  Rather  treat  the  subject  as  a  grave 
ecclesiastical  question,  requiring  the  aid  of  first-rate  counsellors. 
Then  will  a  noble  work  have  been  accomplished  that  may  bid 
defiance  to  time. ' ' 


WHAT  CAN  BE  DONE 
TO  INTRODUCE  OUR  GERMAN  CHORAE 
INTO  OUR  ENGLISH  LUTHERAN  CONGREGATIONS? 


BY  MR.  WII.LIAM  BKNBOW. 


What  difficulties  confront  an  English  Lutheran  organist  who 
wants  to  introduce  the  choral  ? 

I.  He  will  begin  to  study  the  subject  by  comparing  the 
English  and  German  editions  published  in  America  containing 
chorals.  He  will  also  hear  the  chorals  sung  in  various  German 
churches,  as  he  finds  occasion.  The  result  will  be  somewhat  be- 
wildering. For  he  finds  that  there  are  all  sorts  of  choral-books 
in  use,  with  the  melody  of  the  same  choral  appearing  with  differ- 
ent variations  in  the  different  editions.  And  he  also  finds  organ- 
ists who  have  their  own  manuscript  copies  of  chorals  differing 
from  these  printed  editions.  If  he  is  in  earnest,  he  will  be 
prompted  to  study  the  conditions  at  first  hand  in  Germany  in  or- 
der to  find,  if  possible,  some  authentic  standard  in  these  matters. 
But  here  again  he  meets  an  endless  variety  of  editions.  And 
what  is  more  discouraging,  he  learns  that  some  of  the  chorals 
which  have  already  attained  popularity  in  the  German  and  also 
English  churches  are  not,  after  all,  in  their  original  and  best 
form.  He  learns  also  that  there  are  numberless  brochures  and 
discussions  bearing  upon  this  disputed  question,  and  that  the 
higher  critics  are  trying  to  arrive  at  some  definite  conclusion  as 
to  what  may  be  recommended  as  the  textus  receptus.  Now  what 
shall  he  do  ? — Introduce  the  equal-note  form  now  in  most  general 
use,  or  the  older  but  newly-revived  rhythmical  form  ?  Suppose 

(ix) 


10 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC, 


he  would  prefer  the  latter.  Whose  ipse  dixit  shall  he  take  as  to 
its  correct  and  final  form  ? 

The  first  answer,  therefore,  to  the  question,  "What  can  be 
done  to  introduce  the  choral  ?"  is,  '%et  us  know  what  is  its  pur- 
est and  final  form.'^ 

2.  German  specialists  admit  and  complain  that  the  German 
congregations  have  gotten  into  the  habit  of  singing  the  chorals  in 
a  slow-paced  and  schleppend  (to  quote  their  own  word)  fashion 
which  robs  them  completely  of  their  fresh  and  noble  vigor.  The 
German  choir  festivals  are  bringing  about  a  great  change  for  the 
better  in  this  matter  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  German  con- 
gregations in  America  will  fall  in  line  with  this  tendency.  For 
certainly  the  most  common  objection  that  English  congregations 
bring  against  the  choral  is  that  they  do  not  like  ''those  slow, 
heavy  German  tunes."  lyet  the  German  pastors,  organists  and 
congregations  set  an  example  that  will  tempt  the  English  con- 
gregations to  imitate  them.  How  shall  they  believe  who  have 
not  heard? 

As  a  rule,  a  new  choral  is  introduced  in  an  English  congre- 
gation because  it  has  been  heard  under  favorable  conditions  in 
some  German  congregation,  and  it  has  commanded  attention  by 
its  intrinsic  merits  as  a  song  for  the  people  and  by  the  people. 
The  German  understands  the  words  of  a  choral  and  its  wealth  of 
associations,  and  can  enjoy  its  "linked  sweetness,  long  drawn 
out,"  but  the  English  organist  generally  has  to  judge  of  it  from 
the  musical  standpoint.  And  if  the  German  sings  it  in  an  unin- 
viting way,  it  will  not  appear  prepossessing,  and  the  English 
stranger,  while  he  may  "first  endure,  then  pity,"  will  hardly  seek 
to  embrace  it  as  a  desirable  acquisition  for  his  own  congregation. 
Give  the  choral  its  original  swing  and  rhythm  and  it  will  go  far 
to  remove  the  prejudice  that  now  exists  in  the  minds  of  many 
English  Eutherans. 

3.  English  Lutheran  congregations  have  not  the  opportuni- 
ty of  teaching  the  chorals  as  they  are  taught  in  German  paro- 
chial schools,  so  the  most  available  place  to  teach  the  choral  is 
the  Sunday  School.  After  that,  they  can  be  utilized  in  the  Lu- 
ther League  and  Young  People's  meetings,  and  finally  in  the 
Sunday  Vesper  Service,  repeating  them  rather  frequently  at  first 
until  they  secure  a  definite  hold. 

The  church  choir  might  sing  a  choral  now  and  then  as  an 


INTRODUCTION  OF  TH.^  GERMAN  CHORAL. 


11 


^offertory  anthem,  the  minister  announcing  the  number  of  the 
hymn  in  order  that  the  cong-regation  may  follow  the  words.  Af- 
ter two  or  three  repetitions,  the  congregation  will  have  enough 
recollection  of  it  to  make  its  introduction  as  a  regular  hymn-tune 
a  simple  matter. 

The  organist  can  also  play  chorals  during  the  distribution  in 
the  Communion  Service.  And  if  he  prefers  the  general  non- 
rhythmic  form,  he  can  use  choral-preludes,  of  which  there  are 
many  collections  and  forms,  as  preludes  and  postludes. 

It  would  be  wise  to  choose  chorals  of  a  bold  and  joyous 
character  for  the  first  efforts  in  order  to  counteract  the  idea  that 
chorals  are  m.ournful  and  tedious.  This  is  an  important  precau- 
tion, for  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  if  some  of  the  beautiful  minor 
chorals  will  ever  find  a  welcome  acceptance  in  English  congrega- 
tions. Some  of  them  were  composed  in  troubled  and  distressful 
times  and  they  are  undeniably  mournful.  The  English  Eutheran 
respects  the  history  of  such  a  choral  but  he  hardly  feels  called 
upon  to  use  it  as  the  best  and  most  consistent  expression  of  his 
own  religious  emotion  and  experience. 

It  would  help  greatly  if  a  chorus  could  be  organized  and 
trained  to  sing  some  of  the  more  vigorous  chorals  at  our  Sunday 
School  and  Euther  League  Conventions.  This  would  be  still 
more  stimulating  if  it  could  be  used  to  illustrate  certain  distinct- 
ive features  of  the  choral  in  the  history  of  its  development. 

When  we  consider  what  an  important  part  music  has  in  all 
our  services,  we  are  amazed  to  find  so  little  time  or  attention 
given  it  in  our  conventions  and  to  find  only  two  or  three  musical 
articles  in  a  whole  year  in  our  church  paper.  Can  we  not  have 
a  column  at  least,  to  be  known  as  the  Church  Music  Depart- 
ment, where  church  musicians  could  feel  free  to  ask  questions 
and  exchange  opinions  on  the  history,  usage  or  practice  of  just 
such  a  topic  as  the  choral  ? 

In  conclusion,  in  spite  of  the  title  of  this  paper,  we  wish  to 
protest  that  the  choral  has  ab-eady  been  introduced  into  our  En- 
glish congregations  where  quite  a  number  of  the  best  ones  are 
in  active  and  popular  use.  And  the  number  will  increase  as  the 
difiiculties  and  prejudices  indicated  are  overcome. 


THE  INTERPRETATIVE  USE  OF  THE  ORGAN 
IN  THE  SERVICE. 


BY  THE  RKV.  GKO.  C.  F.  HAAS,  D.  D. 


The  organ  has  come  to  be  almost  universally  recognized  as  the 
instrument  peculiarly  fitted  for  use  in  the  worship  of  the  Christian 
congregation.  The  sustained  quality  of  its  tone  together  with 
the  great  volume  of  tone  that  it  is  capable  of  giving  forth,  afford 
the  desirable  and  appropriate  impression  of  dignity  and  stateli- 
ness,  while  the  easily  controlled  modification  of  its  tone-color  as 
well  as  its  tone-volume  renders  it  peculiarly  adaptable  to  the 
varying  requirements  of  the  service  in  the  sanctuary.  Though 
often  abused,  the  organ  yet  has  its  distinctive  uses.  These  might 
be  classified  under  three  heads. 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  a  use  almost  purely  mechanical,  in 
so  far  as  the  organ  is  employed  to  ijidicate  and  sustain  the  pitch 
and  rhythm  of  the  congregational  singing.  A  second  use  of  the 
organ  might  be  termed  the  artistic.  This  comes  into  play  where 
the  organ  is  used  as  a  means  of  embellishing  and  beautifying  the 
Service,  as  for  instance  in  adding  to  the  plain  melody  sung  by  the 
congregation  the  appropriate  harmony,  in  supplying  independent 
accompaniments  to  the  singing  of  the  choir,  and  in  rendering 
preludes,  interludes,  and  postludes.  The  third  use,  however,  is 
that  which  for  want  of  a  better  term,  I  have  called  the  interpre- 
tative. It  presupposes  and  includes  the  first  and  second,  but 
goes  further  and  higher  than  either.  It  is  that  use  of  the  organ 
according  to  which  the  dead  instrument  becomes  the  handmaid 
of  the  living  Word.  It  and  it  alone  will,  indeed,  make  the  in- 
(xii) 


THK  INTERPRETATIVE  USE  OF  THE  ORGAN.  13 

strumental  part  of  the  Service  an  aid  to  devotion.  According  to 
this,  its  highest  use,  the  king  of  instruments  is  to  employ  its  va- 
rious voices  and  peculiar  powers  to  interpret,  so  far  as  music  can 
interpret,  the  meaning  and  sentiment  of  the  words  sung  and  said, 
and  so  to  attune  the  mind  of  the  hearer  to  the  thought  expressed. 
That  music  in  itself  considered  has  this  interpretative  power,  es- 
pecially so  far  as  the  emotions  are  concerned,  is  freely  conceded. 
Secular  music  freely  uses  this  power.  That  the  music  of  the 
Christian  Service  should  also  in  a  proper  measure  employ  it, 
would  scarcely  seem  to  require  proof. 

Before  the  organ  can  be  put  to  this  most  elevated  and  ele- 
vating use,  two  things  are  necessary:  we  must  have  the  proper 
kind  of  organ  and  the  proper  kind  of  organist.  There  are  organs, 
and  not  a  few  of  them,  with  which  an  interpretative  rendering  of 
anything  would  be  out  of  the  question.  What  sentiment  can  you 
convey  by  means  of  a  mere  box  of  pipes,  mostly  little  ones.  It 
is  a  strange  and  deplorable  fact,  that  many  congregations,  even 
such  as  have  the  means — for  we  find  no  fault  with  those  that 
have  to  bow  to  necessity — devote  but  little  attention  and  little  of 
their  means  to  the  organ.  Even  architects  are  again  and  again 
guilty  of  leaving  an  entirely  insufficient  or  unsuitable  space  for 
this  instrument.  As  a  rule  ever}^  other  furnishing  of  the  church 
is  attended  to  and  provided  for  first,  before  the  organ  comes  in 
for  its  share.  As  a  result,  it  often  has  to  be  built  as  cheaply  as 
possible — and  it  is  built  so.  There  is,  perhaps,  a  considerable 
array  of  draw-stops,  but  not  much  back  of  them.  Now  an  or- 
gan of  that  sort,  weak,  insipid,  without  character,  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  do  much  interpreting  and  be  much  of  an  aid  to 
devotion. 

With  a  poor  organ  the  best  organist  can  do  but  little,  but  it 
is  equally  true,  that  even  the  best  organ  is  of  little  use  unless  the 
organist  be  the  right  sort  of  a  man.  In  order  to  be  able  to  inter- 
pret, the  organist  must  understand  what  he  is  to  interpret  and 
how  to  interpret  it.  He  must  not  only  be  perfectly  acquainted 
with  his  instrument  and  its  capabilities, — and  every  organ  that 
deserves  the  name  has  peculiar  qualities  and  capabilities, — but 
he  must  be  equally  at  home  in  the  Service,  the  Liturgy  and  the 
Hymnolog3^  of  the  Church.  He  must  not  only  understand,  but  he 
must  be  in  sympathy  with  and  feel  the  spirit  of  the  Service,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  give  expression  to  its  sentiment.    He  should  enter 


14 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


miderstandingl}^  and  devoutly  into  the  act  of  worship  in  which 
he  is  to  assist.  On  the  other  hand  he  should,  of  course,  not  only 
know  theoreticall}",  but  be  able  to  bring  out  practically  the  points 
of  his  instrument.  Especially  should  he  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  various  stops  and  their  combinations.  The 
stud}^  of  instrumentation  will  be  one  of  the  greatest  helps  to  him 
in  striving  to  render  a  service  understandingly  and  in  an  inter- 
pretative manner. 

Now  given  the  organ  and  the  organist,  what  is  the  thing  to 
be  aimed  at  and  in  what  wsiv  is  it  to  be  attained?  As  before 
stated,  the  aim  should  be,  so  to  use  the  instrument  at  hand,  that 
it  will  aid  devotion  hy  interpreting  as  far  as  possible,  what  the 
words  of  the  Service  convey.  There  are  limitations,  it  is  true. 
The  exigencies  of  accompaniment,  regard  to  the  necessary  vol- 
um^e  or  moderation  in  view  of  the  building,  of  the  number  of 
persons  to  be  accompanied,  and  the  like  will  to  a  great  extent 
modify  the  selection  of  stops,  especially  with  regard  to  loudness 
of  tone.  No  hard  and  fast  rule  can  be  laid  down  even  for  any 
one  service  or  any  one  particular  hymn,  but  certain  principles 
should  guide  the  organist  in  the  use  of  his  instrument. 

1.  )  To  begin  with  he  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact, 
that  the  organ  occupies  not  the  first,  but  only  a  secondary  place 
in  the  worship  of  the  congregation.  The  organ  is  not  mistress, 
but  only  handmaid.  The  first  and  foremost  thing  in  divine 
worship  is  the  divine  Word.  It  must  remain  in  the  first  place 
whether  spoken  or  sung.  It  dare  not  be  relegated  to  a  place  of 
secondary  importance  or  of  obscurity  by  crovv^ding  into  the  fore- 
ground a  musical  instrument.  The  object  of  the  service  is  not  to 
delight  the  ear  and  gratify  the  aesthetic  sense,  but  to  edify  the 
heart.  This  can  be  done  onl}^  by  the  Word.  Even,  therefore, 
where  music  is  employed  in  divine  service  it  is  vocal  music,  the 
Word  as  sung,  and  not  instrumental,  the  mere  accompaniment 
and  embellishment  of  the  singing,  that  occupies  the  first  place. 
The  aim,  therefore,  of  the  organist  should  never  be  to  assert 
himself  and  his  artistic  abilities,  or  his  instrument  and  its  aesthet- 
ic beauties,  but  as  an  humble  servant  to  assist  in  bringing  the 
Word  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  worshippers. 

2.  )  Again  the  service  should  always  be  regarded  as  a  unit. 
Each  servace  has  a  character  of  its  own,  indicated  by  the  occasion 
of  it,  be  it  its  place  in  the  Church  Year  or  some  special  circum- 


THK  INTERPRETATIVE  USE  OF  THE  ORGAN.  15 

stance.  From  an  artistic,  as  well  as  from  a  psychological  point 
of  view  this  character  should  dominate  the  whole  service.  The 
Good  Friday  service,  for  instance,  to  take  an  extreme  case,  is  es- 
sentially different  in  character  from  the  Easter  ser\dce.  The  one 
is  subdued,  solemn,  penitential;  the  other  triumphantly  jo3^ous. 
The  note  of  triumph  may  indeed  not  be  absent  in  the  Good  Fri- 
day service,  nor  the  reference  to  death  and  the  grave  in  the  Eas; 
ter  service,  yet  in  each  case  the  whole  would  dominate  the  part; 
the  individual  response,  hymn,  or  strophe  would  be  in  a  manner 
attuned  to  the  general  tone  pervading  the  service.  The  organist 
too,  must  be  mindful  of  this  in  order  to  avoid  incongruity  and 
wrongly  placed  emphasis,  but  rather  to  conform  his  lights  and 
shadows  to  the  general  character  of  the  service. 

3 .  )  Another  principl  e  that  greatly  affects  the  use  of  the  organ 
is  that  the  character  of  our  Eutheran  Service  is  that  of  objectivi- 
ty, rather  than  subjectivity.  Its  key-note  is  the  common  praise 
by  the  assembled  congregation  of  the  grace  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ 
to  us-ward.  What  God  hath  done  for  his  people,  not  what  they 
have  done,  is  the  great  theme.  "Not  unto  us,  not  unto  us,  but 
to  Thy  Name  be  glor}-,"  is  our  constant  song.  In  this  respect 
the  Lutheran  Service  differs  from  the  Service  of  such  churches  as 
lay  the  great  stress  upon  the  human  side,  and  deal  in  greater 
part  with  human  emotions  and  experiences.  Accordingly,  there- 
fore, the  general  character  of  the  music  used  in  a  genuine  Lu- 
theran Service  would  not  be  of  the  subjective,  sentimental  varie- 
ty, but  of  the  positive  type,  ex.pressing  the  firm  objective  faith  of 
the  Church.  This  would  be  especially  noticeable  in  the  great 
festivals  of  the  Church  Year,  when  even  the  instrumental  music 
should  triumphantly  celebrate  the  great  facts  of  redemption. 
According  to  this  principle  even  the  Good  Friday  service  would 
not  degenerate  into  a  mere  sentimental  moan,  nor  would  the 
funeral  service  be  like  a  heathen  dirge,  but  in  both  the  victory  of 
faith  would  shine  through  the  gloom  of  death. 

4.  )  At  the  same  time  the  varying  themes  of  the  Church 
Year  afford  abundant  opportunity  for  variety  in  the  music  and 
its  rendering.  Nay  even  the  ordinary  Sunday  service  and  its 
Liturgy  provides  ample  room  for  the  interpretative  use  of  the  or- 
gan. There  is,  for  instance,  a  wonderful  progression,  in  some 
places  an  almost  dramatic  contrast  in  the  Chief  Service  of  our 
Church, — what  an  opportunity  for  the  organist  !    What  would  be 


16 


ESSAYS  OX  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


thought  of  the  minister  who  should  deliver  a  whole  sermon  in 
about  the  same  tone  of  voice,  irrespective  of  whether  it  were  the 
statement  of  a  fact,  the  exultation  over  a  blessing  received,  an 
admonition  or  a  warning  ?  Would  he  not  be  unanimously  voted 
monotonous  ?  How  about  the  organist,  then,  who  plays  every 
h3'mn-tune  with  about  the  same  stops,  or  who  possibly  varies  the 
stops  with  the  tune,  but  does  not  consider  the  hymn  ?  Should 
he  not  be  voted  equalh'  monotonous  ?  Without  going  into  the 
great  field  of  choir-music,  let  me  only  cite  a  few  examples  from 
the  simplest  of  the  simple,  the  rendering  of  the  tunes  sung  by 
the  congregation. 

The  Evening  Ser^'ice  is  drawing  to  its  close.  The  Collect  for 
Peace  has  been  spoken.  The  last  hymn  is  announced:  "Abide 
with  me." — Xow  as  to  its  general  character,  it  is  a  petition  and 
an  evening  hymn.  Character:  subdued,  peaceful.  But  to  come 
to  particulars.  "Abide  with  me,"  is  simple  petition,  calm  and 
pleading.  "Fast  falls  the  eventide" — still  peaceful,  but  with  a 
touch  of  sadness.  '  'The  darkness  deepens' ' — with  it  the  gloom — 
let  the  gloom  of  the  organ  deepen  also.  "When  other  helpers 
fail  etc.,"  continues  the  same  sentiment,  but  in  the  last  line  you 
again  regain  confidence:  "Help  of  the  helpless,  O  abide  with  me." 
Verse  2,  "Swift  to  its  close,"  is  a  beautiful  anticlimax,  until  the 
last  line  is  reached:  "O  Thou  Who  changest  not,  etc."  How 
impressively  can  the  organ  render  that  sentiment  !  And  what 
affords  greater  opportunity-  for  interpretative  rendering  than  the 
7th  and  8th  verses?  After  the  foes,  the  ills,  yea,  death's  sting, 
"I  triumph  still" — and  again,  "Heaven's  morning  breaks" — O 
soul,  devoid  of  music,  that  does  not  feel  the  music  in  those  lines. 
But  lest  it  be  objected  that  this  is  a  subjective  hj-mn,  let  us  take 
another  instance:  We  are  singing  the  great  Reformation  hymn: 
"Bin  feste  Bin^g,  etc."  It  is,  indeed,  a  hymn  of  supreme  confi- 
dence and  trust  in  the  God  that  battles  for  us.  We  come  to  the 
second  verse:  "With  might  of  ours  can  naught  be  done,  etc." 
Will  you  coimteract  that  sentiment  b}'  doing  all  you  can  with 
3^our  organ?  'Say,  let  it  recede,  let  it  but  be  sufficient  to  retain 
the  lead  of  the  voices, — let  it  almost  come  to  silence,  if  such  can 
be.  "Naught"  can  and  shall  be  done  b}'  us.  "But  for  us  fights 
the  Valiant  One,  \\Tiom  God  Himself  elected." — Who  is  He? — 
"Ask  3'e,  Who  He  is?"  We  are  rising  to  a  climax,  yet  still 
searching.    But  now  we  find  the  answer:  "Jesus  Christ  it  is." — 


THK  INTERPRETATIVE  USE  OF  THE  ORGAN.  17 

Now  draw  on  your  organ,  let  the  Double  Diapasons  with  their 
volume  shake  the  edifice,  let  the  trumpets  rejoice,  let  all  the 
brilliancy  of  your  organ  come  forth,  for  "There's  no  other  God, 
He  holds  the  field  for  ever." 

Now  I  venture  to  say,  that  such  playing  will  tend  to  glorify 
God  and  aid  in  bringing  the  message  of  His  grace  to  the  sinful 
souls  of  men.  The  organist  who  has  attained  that,  is  indeed,  an 
organist  '  'Dei  gratia . ' ' 


THE  CHII.D  AND  MUSIC. 


BY   THK    REV.  G.   C.  BERKKMBIBR,  D.  D. 


When  called  upon  by  our  .esteemed  committee  to  prepare  a  pa- 
per on  the  above  subject,  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  accept.  I 
know  a  little  about  the  first  part  of  the  subject,  the  child — at 
least  I  ought  to  in  my  capacity  as  foster-parent  of  almost  two 
hundred  little  orphans.  But  evidently  you  do  not  expect  to  hear 
of  the  child  alone — the  orphan-child.  You  have  asked  me  to 
speak  of  the  child  and  music ^  and  if  it  be  true  that  ''when  you 
listen  to  fine  music  you  hear  your  mother  tongue,"  then  the  child 
intimately  associated  with  music  is  no  longer  a  full  orphan. 
History  tells  us  of  the  "Meistersanger"  of  the  famous  German 
"Wartburg,"  and  if  I  should  name  one  characteristic  and  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  our  Wartburg,  it  would  be  the  cultivation 
of  music  and  song.  I  believe  in  music  as  an  educational  factor. 
I  hear  perhaps  more  singing  than  anyone  in  this  audience,  listen- 
ing almost  constantly  to  the  sweet  chorus  of  the  dear  little  ones 
around  me  and  for  this,  if  for  no  other  reason,  I  will  undertake 
to  speak  to  you  on  the  interesting  subject  of  ''Children  and  Mu- 
sic ^ 

"A  piano  !"  exclaimed  a  father  in  utter  amazement  to  his 
daughter,  who  asked  him  to  purchase  this  instrument  for  her. 
"Never.  When  I  have  more  money  than  I  want,  I  will  waste  it 
on  such  a  useless  thing,"  and  from  this  he  enlarged  upon  the 
gross  folly  of  attending  to  music,  which,  as  he  expressed  it,  "can 
do  nobody  any  good  !" 

This  father  is  the  representative  of  a  class  of  persons  in  every 
(xviii) 


THK  CHII.D  AND  MUSIC. 


19 


community,  who  see  no  benefit  resulting  from  music  as  an  edu- 
cational factor.  It  is  true,  also,  that  many,  who  even  press  their 
children  to  give  attention  to  music  do  so  only  for  superficial  rea- 
sons. Music  is  an  accojnplishment  and  an  amusenie7it  and  as  such 
it  is  introduced  into  the  family  circle;  it  is  fashionable  and  charm- 
ing, and  a  pianoforte  in  the  parlor  is  a  thing  to  be  proud  of,  and 
if  it  can  be  cleverly  played  by  a  promising  daughter  it  may  yet 
prove  an  attraction  for  some  desirable  visitor.  But  as  for  any 
particular  educational  influence,  as  a  beneficent  discipline  of  head 
and  heart,  the  cultivation  of  musical  talent  is  hardl}^  thought  of. 
A  martyr  is  often  made  of  the  poor  piano  by  those  who  keep  it 
only  for  ornamental  purposes,  just  as  in  our  day  books  are  pur- 
chased by  the  cubic  foot  and  shelved  away,  buried  alive  in  rose- 
wood cofiins,  called  book-cases.  That  was  a  capital  response 
made  by  a  great  scholar,  w^ho  when  ushered  into  the  library  of  a 
wealthy  brewer  and  shown  the  many  and  long  rows  of  books 
with  the  pompous  remark:  "These  are  my  friends,"  took  several 
volumes  out  and  finding  that  the  pages  were  not  cut,  observed: 
"Ah,  I  see,  you  don' t  cut  your  friends!''' 

Now,  as  for  music,  we  are  profoundly  convinced  that,  next 
to  religion,  there  is  no  other  power  so  strong  to  affect  the  mind 
and  heart  of  man,  especially  of  children,  as  that  of  music,  and 
that  it  often  proves  successful  as  a  last  resort,  when  parental 
counsels  and  authority  fall  powerless  upon  the  child;  and  for  this 
reason  music  should  be  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  chief  factors  in 
educational  work  and  should  be  cultivated  as  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant branches  in  the  curriculum  of  the  young. 

Leigh  Richmond,  who  has  ever  been  regarded  as  one  of  the 
best  disciplinarians,  said:  "I  am  persuaded  that  music  is  designed 
to  prepare  for  Heaven,  to  educate  for  the  choral  enjoyment  of 
Paradise,  to  form  the  mind  to  virtue  and  devotion,  to  charm 
away  evil  and  sanctify  the  heart  to  God." 

Calvin,  the  stern  and  rugged  Calvin,  of  whom  it  is  said  that 
he  never  once  smiled  in  his  life — even  Calvin  felt  the  softening 
influence  of  music  and  admits,  "there  is  scarcely  anything  in  this 
world  which  can  more  powerfully  turn  or  bend  hither  or  thither 
the  manner  of  men  than  music,  and  in  fact  we  experimentally 
feel  that  it  has  secret  and  incredible  power  over  our  hearts  to 
move  them  one  way  or  the  other." 

We  read  of  the  fabled  Orpheus,  who  drew  after  him  trees 


20 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


and  mountains  by  the  melodious  strains  of  his  lyre,  while  enrapt- 
ured rivers  ceased  to  flow  and  savage  beasts  crouched  laml^-like 
at  his  feet;  even  Pluto,  the  king  of  the  infernal  regions,  was 
charmed  with  the  bewitching  melody,  the  ''wheel  of  Ixion 
stopped,  the  stone  of  Sisyphus  stood  still,  Tantalus  forgot  his 
perpetual  thirst  and  even  the  Furies  relented."  This  is  fable, 
and  yet  not  all  a  fable.  It  shows  what  was  thought  of  the  power 
of  music  in  those  early  days.  In  later  times  its  charms  have  been 
celebrated  in  poetry  and  prose.    Pope  wrote: 

Music  the  fiercest  grief  can  charm, 

And  fate's  severest  rage  disarm; 

Music  can  soften  pain  to  ease, 

And  make  despair  and  madness  please; 

Our  joys  below  it  can  improve, 

And  antedate  the  bliss  above. 

Nations  have  depended  upon  its  power  on  the  field  of  battle 
and  in  political  campaigns  the  brass  bands  have  much  to  do  with 
the  victory  on  election  day.  The  church,  too,  from  the  time  of 
David  to  the  present  hour  has  fought  her  battles  and  gained  her 
victories  not  with  the  sword,  but  with  her  songs.  In  the  time  of 
the  Reformation,  the  Romanists  had  to  confess  "the  songs  of 
Luther  have  conquered  us  !" — those  majestic  hymns  swayed  the 
multitudes  and  gave  a  turn  to  the  whole  history  of  our  race. 

IvUther  himself  was  a  musician  and  a  composer,  and  I  dare 
■say  that  this  very  fact  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with  his  marvelous 
success;  and  at  a  Convocation  like  this  it  would  be  eminently  ap- 
propriate to  display  a  banner  with  the  following  words  of  lyUther 
inscribed  in  golden  letters:  ''Music  is  one  of  the  finest  and  most 
glorious  gifts  of  God,  to  which  Satan  is  a  bitter  e7ie7ny;  for  it  re- 
moves from  the  heart  the  weight  of  sorrows  and  the  fascination  of 
evil  thoughts.  Music  is  a  kind  of  gentle  discipliiie;  it  refines  the 
passions  and  improves  the  understanding .  Even  the  dissonance  of 
unskilled  fiddlers  serves  to  set  off  the  claims  of  true  7nelody,  as  white 
is  made  more  conspicuous  by  the  opposite  of  black.  Those  who  love 
music  are  gentle  and  honest  in  their  tempers.  I  always  loved  music 
and  would  not  for  a  great  matter  be  without  the  little  skill  I  possess 
in  the  art.''' 

I  think  it  will  amply  repay  us  to  look  more  particularly  at 
this  quoted  remark  of  lyUther.  He  ascribes  several  positive  re- 
sults to  music,  of  which  the  principal  four  are  the  following: 


THK  CHIIvD  AND  MUSIC. 


21 


It  alleviates  sorrow, 
Refines  the  passions, 

Removes  the  fascination  of  evil  thoughts, 
Improves  the  understanding. 

Music  alleviates  sorrow.  When  poor  orphan  children  are 
brought  to  our  Home  with  eyes  red  with  weeping  and  their  little 
hearts  pinched  with  inexpressible  anguish,  I  know  of  one  thing 
to  comfort  them,  and  that  is  when  I  bring  them  in  to  our  evening 
worship  and  have  them  sit  down  among  the  other  children  and 
/  then  we  sing  a  sweet  and  restful  evening  hymn,  a  hymn  of  faith 
and  praise  and  thanksgiving,  and  during  the  singing  I  can  see  a 
change  coming  over  the  face  of  the  little  one — it  seems  to  realize 
that  "it  is  good  to  dwell  here,"  that  it  shall  yet  be  comforted 
**even  as  a  mother  comforteth  her  child" — (music  is  our  mother 
tongue!) — that  those  who  sing  such  songs  must  be  kind  and  gen- 
tle people — 

"Wo  man  singt,  da  lasz  dich  ruhig  nieder, 
Boese  Menschen  haben  keine  Lieder  !" 

and  I  thank  God  for  the  sweet  consolation  of  music.  It  is  re- 
lated of  Benda,  a  celebrated  German  composer,  that  in  a  parox- 
ysm of  grief  at  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife,  he  hastened  to  the 
piano,  and  there  he  became  so  absorbed  in  the  plaintive  strains 
he  produced  so  much  in  consonance  with  the  emotions  of  his 
wounded  heart  that  when  the  servant  stepped  to  his  door  for 
some  directions,  he  replied,  "Ask  my  wife."  He  forgot  his  loss 
under  the  soothing  influence  of  the  mournful  chords.  Mr.  Bry- 
ant, in  describing  his  visit  to  one  of  the  slave  states,  says  that 
the  slaves  were  in  the  habit  of  singing  psalm  tunes  almost  con- 
stantly to  relieve  the  sorrows  of  their  bondage.  The  overseer 
remarked  to  him:  "We  encourage  their  singing — for  the  boys 
work  better  while  singing."  You  all  know  how  when  lyUther 
was  found  in  his  cell  lying  on  the  floor  in  deepest  anguish,  with- 
out showing  any  signs  of  life,  he  was  resuscitated  only  by  the 
power  of  music. 

Music  refines  the  passions.  Volumes  of  facts  on  this  part  of 
the  subject  might  be  written.  Think  of  King  Saul,  who  was 
calmed  and  appeased  by  the  sweet  music  of  little  David.  I  had 
a  little  namesake  of  David  under  my  training  at  the  Wartburg, 
who  had  the  passionate  temper  of  Saul,  but  who  was  softened 


22 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


down  to  a  remarkable  degree  of  suavit}^  and  graduall}^  turned  out 
to  be  a  self -controlled,  amiable  3"oung  man — and  what  wrought 
the  change  ?  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  music  contributed, 
if  not  all,  yet  a  great  part  of  this  transformation.  In  this  con- 
nection let  me  say  that  our  children  are  great  singers,  they  sing 
half  of  the  time;  on  one  occasion  this  summer  our  girls  sat  to- 
gether in  their  sunny  sitting  room  and  whilst  knitting  and  darn- 
ing they  sang  for  four  hours,  without  interruption,  one  hymn 
and  song  after  another,  German  and  English,  allegro  and  adagio, 
solemn  and  happy — I  should  say  about  two  hundred  pieces  and 
without  any  book.  Our  girls  almost  always  sing  when  they  work, 
and  this  can't  fail  and  does  not  fail  to  refine  their  characters,  and 
it  is  no  wonder  that  of  late  I  have  received  all  of  two  hundred 
applications  for  girls  from  our  Home. 

Music  removes  the  fasci7iatio?i  of  evil  thoughts.  Pure  and 
chaste  music  elevates,  and  a  young  man,  who  cultivates  the  art 
of  music  as  a  heavenly  gift  and  3delds  to  its  gentle  yet  constrain- 
ing power,  is  less  likely  to  be  seduced  into  vulgar  vice  by  the 
temptations  of  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil.  Shakespeare 
says: 

The  man  that  hath  not  music  in  himself 

And  is  not  moved  with  concord  of  sweet  sounds, 

Is  fit  for  treasons,  strategems  and  spoils; 

Let  no  man  trust  him. 

When  a  certain  Reform  School  was  opened,  it  was  difficult 
for  the  chaplain  to  secure  the  respect  and  attention  of  the  boj's. 
As  soon  as  he  began  to  speak  the  boys  began  to  stamp,  whistle 
and  interrupt  him  in  other  ways.  The  first  chaplain  did  not  suc- 
ceed; the  second  went  before  the  unmanageable  bo3'S  well  quali- 
fied to  secure  their  attention.  His  first  efforts  were  met  with  all 
sorts  of  noise  and  confusion.  He  was  a  good  singer,  and  when 
there  was  a  lull  in  the  first  noise  and  confusion,  he  commenced 
singing  a  captivating  air,  which  speedily  produced  perfect  silence. 
In  a  short  time  he  completely  overcame  the  turbulent  spirits  in 
this  tender  way  and  never  afterward  experienced  any  difficulty 
in  managing  them. 

In  this  connection  I  ask  yoMX  permission  to  read  to  3^ou  a 
little  poem,  which  I  think  is  pertinent  and  which  beautifull3^  il- 
lustrates the  elevating  and  refining  power  of  music,  of  sacred 
music: 


THB  CHII,D  AND  MUSIC. 


HIS  MOTHER'S  SONGS. 

Beneath  the  hot  midsummer  sun 

The  men  had  marched  all  day; 
And  now  beside  a  rippling  stream 

Upon  the  grass  they  lay. 

Tiring  of  gains  and  idle  jests, 

As  swept  the  hours  along, 
They  called  to  one  who  mused  apart, 

"Come,  friend,  give  us  a  song." 

*'I  fear  I  can  not  please,"  he  said; 

"The  only  songs  I  know 
Are  those  my  mother  used  to  sing 

For  me  long  years  ago." 

"Sing  one  of  those,"  a  rough  voice  cried, 
"There's  none  but  true  men  here; 

To  every  mother's  son  of  us 
A  mother's  songs  are  dear." 

Then  sweetly  rose  the  singer's  voice, 

Amid  unwonted  calm, 
*'Am  la  soldiei'-  of  the  Cross, 

A  follower  of  the  Lamb? 

'''And  shall  I  fear  to  own  His  cause'" — 

The  very  stream  was  stilled. 
And  hearts  that  never  throbbed  with  fear 

With  tender  thoughts  were  filled. 

Ended  the  song;  the  singer  said, 

As  to  his  feet  he  rose, 
^'Thanks  to  you  all,  my  friends,  good  night, 

God  grant  us  sweet  repose. ' ' 

"Sing  us  once  more,"  the  Captain  begged; 

The  soldier  bent  his  head. 
Then  glancing  'round,  with  smiling  lips, 

"You'll  join  with  me,"  he  said. 

"We'll  sing  this  old  familiar  air, 

Sweet  as  the  bugle  call, 
''All  hail  the  power  of fesus'  name. 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall. '  ' ' 

Ah!  wondrous  was  the  old  tune's  spell 

As  on  the  singer  sang; 
Man  after  man  fell  into  line, 

And  loud  the  voices  rang. 


24 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


The  songs  are  done,  the  camp  is  still, 

Naught  but  the  stream  is  heard; 
But,  ah!  the  depths  of  every  soul 

By  those  old  hymns  are  stirred. 

And  up  from  many  a  bearded  lip, 

In  whispers  soft  and  low, 
Rises  the  prayer  the  mother  taught  • 

The  boy  long  years  ago. 

Music  improves  the  understanding .  The  intellect  is  quick- 
ened by  its  influence.  Children  commit  to  memory  poetry  that 
is  simg  more  readily  than  poetry  that  is  spoken.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  saw  this  and  set  maxims  of  virtue  to  popular  airs 
for  the  young,  and  most  other  nations  have  followed  their  exam- 
ple. We  have  among  our  German  hymns  so  many  purely  didac- 
tic verses,  which  are  often  criticised  and  declared  as  worthless  by 
those  who  do  not  understand  their  purpose — some  of  these  were 
written  by  Luther  himself,  such  as  "Christ  unser  Herr  zum  Jor- 
dan ging"  and  "Dies  sind  die  heil'gen  zehn  Gebot"  and  they 
constitute  a  catechism  in  song.  I  think  we  can  all  subscribe  to 
the  words  of  a  great  thinker  who  said:  "When  music  sounds  the 
sweetest  in  my  ears,  truth  flows  clearest  into  my  mind."  Who 
has  not  noticed  that  musical  families  are  distinguished  for  their 
intelligence  or  at  least  a  certain  quickness  of  intellect  and  refine- 
ment of  manners  above  the  multitude  around  them?  The  best 
music  aw^akens  the  most  elevating  associations,  and  it  was  not  far 
from  the  truth  when  Cipriano  Potter  said  concerning  a  particular 
chord  in  one  of  Mendelssohn's  Lieder  "that  is  a  peep  into  Heav- 
en!"— a  remark  that  he  also  made  about  the  theme  of  the  slow 
movement  in  Beethoven's  "Kreutzer  Sonata."  The  best  music 
awakens  the  most  elevating  associations  and  the  more  exalted  the 
associations,  the  greater  the  mental  improvement.  The  coarse 
and  ignorant  youth,  who  dislikes  books  and  schools,  never  gives 
any  attention  to  this  art. 

We  see  then  that  Luther  was  not  extravagant  in  his  remarks 
upon  the  discipline  of  music.  He  spoke  from  experience  and  ob- 
servation, and  he  who  speaks  thus,  usually  speaks  advisedly. 
Oh,  if  we  but  understood  the  blessed  power  of  music  in  the  home, 
better  than  the  rod  and  dark  closets.  The  story  of  the  clergy- 
man, whose  children  were  remarkable  for  cheerfulness  and  amia- 
bility, is  not  at  all  incredible;  some  one  asked  him  what  was  the 


THE  CHILD  AND  MUSIC. 


25 


secret  of  his  success  in  training  children?  He  replied:  "When 
anything  disturbs  their  temper  I  say  to  them,  sing!''  It  is  rea- 
sonable. There  is  true  philosophy  in  it.  If  there  was  more 
singing,  there  would  be  less  sinning.  We  have  observed  that 
musical  families  are  affectionate  and  amiable  and  seldom  if  ever 
disturbed  by  household  quarrels.  It  is  doubtful  whether  any 
families  can  be  found,  where  stronger  attachments  unite  the 
members  than  those  of  this  class. 

The  same  thing  has  been  observed  in  schools.  A  teacher 
once  confessed:  "I  have  a  piano  in  school  instead  of  a  ferule.  It 
saves  me  much  unpleasant  lecturing.  When  the  scholars  grow 
restive,  impatient  and  morose,  I  go  to  the  piano,  and  we  all  sing — 
and  soon  it  is  sunshine." 

What  our  mother  sang  to  us  when  she"  put  us  to  sleep,  is 
singing  yet.  We  may  have  forgotten  the  words,  but  they  went 
into  the  fibre  of  our  soul,  and  will  forever  be  part  of  it.  It  is 
not  so  much  what  you  formally  teach  your  children  as  what  you 
sing  to  them.  A  hymn  has  wings  and  can  fly  every  whither. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  3^ears  after  you  are  dead  your  great-grand- 
children will  sing  the  songs  wliich  this  evening  you  sing  to  your 
little  ones  gathered  about  your  knee.  There  is  a  place  in  Switz- 
erland where,  if  3^011  distinctly  utter  j^our  voice,  there  come  back 
ten  or  fifteen  echoes — and  every  Christian  song  sung  by  a  mother 
in  the  ear  of  her  child  shall  have  ten  thousand  echoes  coming 
back  from  all  the  gates  of  Heaven.  Oh,  if  we  only  knew  the 
power  of  this  sacred  spell,  how  much  oftener  the  little  ones  would 
be  gathered  and  all  our  homes  would  chime  with  the  songs  of 
Jesus! 

In  1754  two  children  were  stolen  by  the  Indians  from  a  Ger- 
man family  residing  in  Pennsylvania.  Nine  or  ten  years  after 
Colonel  Boquet,  of  the  English  army,  conquered  the  Indians  and 
compelled  them  to  give  up  all  their  white  captives.  More  than 
four  hundred  were  brought  to  him,  most  of  whom  were  stolen 
from  their  parents  in  early  life.  The  Colonel  published  the  facts 
and  requested  all  parents  who  had  lost  children  by  the  Indians  to 
come  to  Carlisle  on  a  certain  day  to  receive  their  offspring. 

Parents  came  from  far  and  near.  The  mother  of  the  above 
named  little  girls  was  there,  but  could  not  find  her  children.  "Is 
there  nothing,"  said  Col.  B.,  "by  which  your  children  can  be 
discovered?"     "Oh,  sir,  nothing — nothing,"  replied  the  sobbing 


26 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


mother.  "Is  there  nothing  you  taught  them  which  they  could 
recollect,  if  they  heard  it?"  "Nothing,  sir,  nothing — unless  it 
be  a  hymn  which  we  used  to  sing  with  the  father."  "Sing  it, 
sing  it,"  said  the  Colonel.    The  mother  began  the  hymn: 

"Allein,  und  doch  nicht  ganz  allein, 
Bin  ich  in  meiner  Binsamkeit; 
Denn  wenn  ich  ganz  verlassen  schein', 
Vertreibt  mein  Heiland  mir  die  Zeit." 

Scarcely  had  she  sung  the  first  two  lines  ere  the  youngest 
child  rushed  from  the  crowd  into  her  mother's  arms.  The  sweet 
hymn  was  fresh  as  ever  in  her  child's  heart. 

I  have  said  enough  to  show  that  music  is  a  power  of  wonder- 
ful influence  over  mind  and  heart — but  whether  this  influence  be 
for  good  or  for  bad  depends  entirely  on  the  quality  of  the  music. 
So  far  I  have  not  said  one  word  on  the  quality  of  the  music,  at 
least  not  of  bad  music  and  its  vicious  effects;  I  have  only  spoken 
of  the  refining,  softening,  elevating  effects  of  pure  and  chaste 
music,  of  rapturous  chords,  which  give  us  a  "peep  into  Heaven;" 
but  there  is  yet  another  music  which  opens  unto  us  the  very  gates 
of  hell,  which  pollutes  the  soul  and  awakens  all  the  beastly  pas- 
sions in  the  breast  of  man.  There  is  enough  of  this  sort,  yes,  I 
may  say  it  is  the  prevailing  music  of  the  day  and  to  speak  a  little 
plainer  dare  I  venture  to  express  it  as  my  opinion,  as  my  well- 
weighed,  candid  opinion  that  even  Wagner — much  as  I  admire 
certain  parts  of  his  compositions,  but  Wagner  as  a  whole,  the 
"Geist"  of  this  stupendous  genius  inclines  alarmingly  towards 
this  class  of  music  which  serves  only  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the 
devil. 

I  am  prepared  to  give  you  my  reasons — but  not  here  and 
now,  and  I  beg  you  to  let  it  pass  merely  as  an  interlude.  In 
speaking  of  bad  music  in  this  paper  I  will  leave  entirely  aside 
that  class  of  corrupted  and  corrupting  music  which  is  prostituted 
to  base  and  shameful  purposes.  I  wish  to  add  only  one  word 
concerning  an  inferior  kind  of  music  intended  for  children  and 
largely  introduced  into  the  homes  and  Sunday  Schools  of  this 
country; — I  say  iyiferior  m.\\si<z  and  if  inferior  it  certainly  should 
be  superseded  by  superior  music,  for  only  the  best  is  good  enough 
for  children.  The  selection  of  music  and  musical  books  has  too 
often  been  left  to  the  whimsical  tastes  of  children  or  the  childish 
caprices  of  adults.    As  a  consequence  many  selections  of  Sunday 


THB  CHILD  AND  MUSIC. 


27 


School  songs  have  teemed  with  meaningless  rhymes  and  senti- 
mental ditties,  set  to  music  essentially  weak  and  frivolous  in  its 
character.  Happily  there  has  been  of  late  quite  a  general  move- 
ment toward  better  things — but  there  is  yet  room  for  great  im- 
provement. 

In  undertaking  this  much  needed  reform  the  subject,  ''The 
Child  and  Music"  has  proven  to  be  a  very  difficult  problem,  a 
problem  which  cannot  be  solved  by  professional  musicians  alone, 
entirely  on  the  basis  of  musical  aesthetics  and  scholastic  theories — 
or  else  the  mistake  will  be  made  that  instead  of  trying  to  lead  the 
people  gradually  to  a  higher  plane,  it  will  be  attempted  to  force 
and  drive  the  masses  to  the  use  of  that  which  they  do  not  under- 
stand and  in  which  they  feel  no  interest.  Can  there  be  no  inter- 
mediate ground  between  stilted  dignity  on  the  one  side  and  gush- 
ing puerility  on  the  other  ? 

The  hymns  and  the  music  should  be  no  less  pure,  devout 
and  worshipful  in  the  Sunday  School  than  in  the  preaching  ser- 
vice, because  the  Sunday  School  is  (or  ought  to  be)  a  religious 
service  and  a  preparation  for  the  formal  worship  in  the  sanctuary, 
where  the  young  should  be  educated  and  trained  for  a  reverent 
service  in  spirit  and  in  truth;  because  of  the  power  of  music  either 
to  deepen  religious  impressions  or  to  dispel  and  efface  them  by 
exciting  superficial  and  frivolous  emotions;  because  in  the  words 
used  a  mischievous  distortion  of  the  truth,  an  unwarrantable 
fancy  of  the  imagination,  or  an  insidious  heresy  may  become 
more  easily  and  firmly  fastened  in  the  mind  by  rhymes  and  mu- 
sic than  in  an}^  other  way. 

For  this  reason  the  character  of  the  book  to  be  used  is  of  vi- 
tal importance.  The  German  "Sonntagschul-Buch"  of  the  Gen- 
eral Council  is  good — at  least  better  than  many  others  and  taken 
all  in  all,  perhaps,  the  best  we  have  in  this  country;  the  only 
criticism  I  have  to  make  is  that  there  is  not  enough  of  it;  we  use 
it  at  the  Wartburg,  but  have  printed  a  number  of  other  hymns 
and  added  them  as  supplement.  By  all  means  keep  out  of  your 
Sunday  School  the  trash  of  our  next  neighbors,  hymnals  which 
are  and  must  be  to  the  taste  of  an  educated  lyUtheran  very  loath- 
some, not  only  on  account  of  the  "crooked  theology"  lurking 
therein,  but  also  on  account  of  the  very  inferior  musical  and  lyric- 
al quality;  jingling  effusions,  which  are  often  flippantly  irrever- 
ent, especially  in  the  use  of  the  names  of  our  Savior. 


28 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


It  is  well  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  chorals  in  the 
Sunday  School,  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  even 
children  cannot  be  interested  in  them  if  they  are  only  properly 
introduced. 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  express  the  deepest  senti- 
ments of  my  heart  in  saying: 

May  it  ever  be  true  among  us  that  the  love  of  God  comes 
first;  then  as  second  the  love  of  children  and  our  love  for  children 
sanctified  by  the  love  of  God — and  then  the  love  of  music,  not 
third,  but  as  the  refining  influence  pervading  and  in  conjunction 
with  both — God,  children  and  music,  these  three,  they  will  suf- 
fice to  antedate  the  bliss  of  Heaven ! 


•    CHURCH  MUSIC 
AS  A  PART  OF  OUR  EDUCATIONAI,  SYSTEM. 


BY   THK    RKV.  R.   MORRIS  SMITH. 


The  successful  development  of  Art  is  largely  dependent  upon  the 
application  of  historical  principles.  Certain  well-defined,  almost 
inexorable  laws  reign  in  the  realm  of  Art,  and  deviation  means 
deterioration.  The  Past  has  reared  its  models  and  the  Present 
can  illy  afford  to  ignore  the  true  Art- forms  of  classic  periods. 
Genius  enshrined  in  human  forms  has  ruled  in  the  different  de- 
partments of  Art,  and  he,  who  would  pose  as  a  leader  in  any  one, 
must  possess  more  than  a  mere  fleeting  knowledge  of  the  great 
masters.  Draughts,  frequent  and  long,  are  necessary  until  indi- 
vidualism, or  at  least  its  vagaries,  loses  itself  in  a  just  apprecia- 
tion of  the  worth  and  merit  of  the  Past. 

In  the  present  development  of  art  the  labors  of  the  masters 
are  as  a  rule  respected..  A  notable  exception,  however,  to  this 
historic  respect  is  encountered  in  the  department  of  Church  Mu- 
sic. Plere  it  seems  to  be  the  conceit  of  the  day  to  ignore  in  a 
manner  most  haughty  and  unbecoming  the  heritage  of  the  Past. 
Strange  that  it  should  be  so!  Not  only  is  Music  the  divinest, 
but  in  one  sense  it  is  also  the  first  of  Arts. 

To  be  oblivious  of  the  Past  and  make  the  Present  develop  its 
own  forms  and  standard  may  be  called  "the  spirit  of  progress; 
yet  should  we,  after  all,  be  ashamed  of  retracing  our  steps  to  our 
great  ancestors,  and  borrowing  from  them  somewhat  of  their 
calmness,  their  stability,  their  strength,  and  so  gain  somewhat  of 

(xxix) 


30 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


the  beautiful  and  lovely  spirit  that  has  given  us  so  many  peace- 
ful, refreshing  and  lively  melodies?"^ 

The  dawn  of  a  better  era  seems  to  be  approaching,  so  far,  at 
least,  as  our  own  Church  is  concerned.  The  sacred  musical 
treasures  of  the  Past  are  being  rejuvenated  and  the  solemn  tones 
and  devotional  melodies  that  once  seemed  to  impart  a  sacredness 
to  the  Latin  language  now  breathe  their  expressive,  even  majes- 
tic richness  in  modern  Anglo-Saxon.  Our  organists  are  begin- 
ning to  turn  their  eyes  backward  to  the  centuries  that  exhaled 
the  fragrance  of  a  pure  type  of  Church  Music  and  delighted  with 
their  retrospective  vision  the^^  wield  their  pens  to  enlighten  those 
less  favored.  Now  and  then,  only  at  too  long  intervals,  laymen, 
whose  nerve-centers  have  been  racked  almost  to  distraction  by  a 
style  of  music  essentially  sensuous,  sigh  for  deliverance  from  a 
bondage  in  which,  only  too  long,  the^^  have  been  held  captives. 
Annual  Convocations  provoking  earnest  discussion,  illustrating 
by  example  what  befits  the  high  character  of  our  holy  Services, 
and  evincing  a  spirit  of  conservatism  truly  commendable,  are 
teaching  our  people  to  appreciate  the  grandeur  of  what  some 
sneeringly  denominate  antiquated  music.  The  dissemination  of 
literature  setting  forth  the  beauty  of  a  matchless  Liturgy — a  Lit- 
urgy demanding  a  style  of  music  in  harmony  with  its  own  spirit, 
is  helping  to  turn  the  tide  in  a  favorable  direction.  However,  all 
these  are  but  isolated  instances  of  a  movement  that  requires  con- 
certed action,  and  the  dynamic  force  necessary  to  insure  such  ac- 
tion can  only  be  successfully  generated  in  a  system  of  training 
given  by  our  educational  institutions. 

The  Reform  movements  of  the  past  strongly  testify  to  the 
fact  that  education  played  a  most  important  part  in  their  incep- 
tion and  development.  The  Reformation  of  the  XVI  century 
was  preceded  by  the  so-called  "revival  of  learning"  of  the  XV 
centur^^  The  retoration  and  establishment  of  the  ancient  faith 
were  accomplished  by  Samuel  through  the  "Colleges  of  the 
Prophets,"  of  which  he  was  the  founder.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of 
note  that  in  these  "schools  of  the  prophets,"  however  little  we 
know  of  the  details  of  instruction,  the  Law  did  not  usurp  all  the 
time  and  attention.  The  Theological  Seminaries  at  Ramah, 
Bethel,  Gilgal,  Gibeah  and  Jericho  cultivated  music. 

The  history  of  Church  Music  abundantly  proves  that  in  its 

*  Thibaut,  Purity  in  Music,  p.  33, 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  EDUCATION AI.  SYSTEM.  31 

rise  and  progress  it  received  its  highest  stimulus  in  schools  found- 
ed by  the  Church.  During  the  pontificate  of  Sylvester  when 
music  became  a  separate  Art,  the  Eternal  City  saw  an  institution 
arise  for  its  proper  cultivation.  This  was  as  early  as  330  A.  D. 
The  longevity  of  this  school  must  have  been  brief,  since  little  is 
known  beyond  the  mere  fact  of  its  existence.  The  latter  part  of 
the  VI  and  beginning  of  the  VII  centuries  witnessed  a  glowing 
fervor  for  the  cultivation  and  propagation  of  a  pure,  churchly 
type  of  music.  It  is  at  this  period  we  meet  with  Gregory  the 
Great,  whose  efforts  to  recover  the  music  of  the  Church  from  the 
deterioration  it  experienced  during  the  two  previous  centuries 
were  so  signally  crowned  with  success,  and  to  whom  we  owe  a 
debt  of  gratitude  for  the  sublimely  solemn  and  highly  devotional 
form  of  music  that  bears  his  name.  Realizing  then  what  it  seems 
we  do  not  realize  to-day  that  purity  in  music  is  not  preserved  by 
suffering  it  to  be  bandied  about  by  the  whims  and  caprices  of  ig- 
norance, he  founded  a  choristers'  school  at  Rome,  whose  influ- 
ence was  felt  among  the  barbarous  nations  to  the  North  and 
West.  Busy  as  he  was  shaping  the  development  of  the  Church, 
he  yet  found  time  to  act  personally  in  the  capacity  of  a  teacher 
of  Sacred  Song. 

West  of  Rome  was  the  countr}"  of  the  fair-haired  Anglo-Sax- 
ons. Strongly  attracted  towards  them  Gregory  sent  Augustine 
accompanied  by  forty  missionaries  and  several  thoroughly  trained 
choristers  to  their  country.  A  choristers'  school  was  foiuided  at 
Kent,  England.  Whatever  faults  Gregory  may  have  had,  negli- 
gence to  provide,  maintain  arid  propagate  a  music  suitable  for 
the  Church  was  not  one  of  them.  After  his  death  the  spirit  that 
animated  the  master  continued  to  assert  itself  in  the  pupils. 

Gregory's  particular  t3'pe  of  music  was  introduced  by  Pepin 
into  Gaul,  whither  Pope  Stephen  II  sent  two  choristers,  presum- 
abl}-  as  teachers.  The  wisdom  of  this  act  received  its  justifica- 
tion in  the  establishment  of  a  school  at  Rheims. 

When  Boniface,  consecrated  a  bishop  at  Rome  and  evidently 
familiar  with  the  work  of  the  music  school  there,  undertook  the 
conversion  of  the  barbarous  hordes  of  Germany,  he  was  not  in- 
sensible to  the  powerful  influence  music  often  exerts  over  the 
uncouth  nature.  This  led  him  to  establish  the  schools  at  Fulda, 
Eichstatt  and  W^iirzburg,  in  which  the  Sacred  Art  was  pursued 
with  untiring  energy. 


32 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


The  maintenance  of  so  high  a  standard  of  music,  as  was  set 
by  Gregory,  among  the  untutored  and  barbarous  tribes  of  Gatil 
and  Germany,  was  a  difficult  task,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to 
hear  of  deterioration.  Fortunately  this  deterioration  was  of  com- 
paratively brief  duration,  as  the  latter  part  of  the  VIII  century 
furnished  a  patron  and  promoter  of  Sacred  Music  in  the  person 
of  Charlemange  who  founded  a  school  at  his  court  in  which  this 
Art  was  cultivated  with  considerable  vigor.  Observing  that  the 
music  of  the  Church  was  not  the  same  throughout  his  realm,  he 
determined  to  devote  all  his  powers  towards  the  attainment  of 
uniformity.  To  accomplish  this  he  first  journeyed  to  Rome  in 
company  with  several  of  his  trained  singers,  in  order  to  be  at  the 
fountain-head  of  the  Church's  Song.  Noting  discrepancies  in 
the  art  of  expression  between  his  singers  and  those  trained  in  the 
local  school,  he  placed  two  of  his  choristers  in  the  school  found- 
ed by  Gregory.  Later  these  were  recalled  and  stationed  at  the 
bishop's  Church  in  Metz,  where  acting  as  instructors  Church 
Song  received  a  new  life  throughout  Gaul.  Pope  Hadrian  I 
kindly  assisted  Charlemange  and  sent  two  choristers,  Theodore 
and  Benedict.  One  went  to  Metz,  the  other  to  Soissons,  the  seat 
of  a  flourishing  school  of  Church  Music.  But  the  hopes  of 
Charlemange  were  not  realized.  Uniformity  was  not  attained, 
and  once  more  he  implored  help  from  the  mother  school  at  Rome. 
Two  choristers,  Peter  and  Romanus,  were  sent.  Their  destina- 
tion was  Metz,  but  on  the  way  Romanus  was  stricken  with  fever, 
taken  to  the  cloister  of  St.  Gall,  and  their  nursed  to  health.  The 
Emperor,  thankful  to  the  brothers  for  the  kind  attention  accord- 
ed Romanus,  permitted  him  to  remain  and  thus  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  famous  school  of  St.  Gall  that  for  centuries 
shed  its  benign  influence  over  the  Church's  Song.  In  addition 
to  the  schools  already  named,  others  were  established  at  Mainz, 
Treves,  Corvey,  Reichenau,  and  Hersfeld.  How  near  to  the 
heart  of  Charlemange  a  pure  type  of  Church  Music  lay  is  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  he  not  only  founded  special  schools  for 
its  cultivation,  but  made  it  a  part  of  the  curricula  of  studies 
throughout  the  ordinary  schools  of  his  realm. 

In  the  XVI  century,  music  of  the  most  trivial  and  flippant 
type  became  associated  with  the  Services  of  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  great  Council  of  Trent  (1562)  emphatically  denounced  the 
frivolities  that  were  rapidly  secularizing  worship  and  demanded 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  KDUCATIONAI,  SYSTEM.  33 

a  return  to  the  Plain  Song  of  Gregory;  but  the  Council  was  pre- 
vailed upon  to  hold  its  demand  in  abeyance  until  a  new  work  by 
Palestrina  should  be  completed.  The  compositions  at  onc£ 
brought  Palestrina  into  deserved  prominence.  A  school  was 
founded  in  Rome  where  his  style  of  music  characterized  by  a 
deeply  religious  and  devotional  tone  was  faithfully  taught. 

The  music  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Trent  was  dignity 
and  decorum  itself  compared  with  that  which  dominated  in  the 
Roman  Church  during  the  XVIII  and  XIX  centuries.  This 
was  the  era  of  floridity  and  dramatic  sentimentality.  .  The  music 
of  the  world  entered  the  sacred  temples  of  worship  and  robbed 
the  lyiturgy  of  its  beauty  and  solemnity.  It  was  not  until  1868 
that  the  current  was  stemmed  by  the  Cecilian  movement,  now 
such  a  powerful  factor  in  the  Roman  Church  in  behalf  of  a  pure, 
Churchly  type.  The  Music  schools  at  Regensburg,  Germany, 
and  St.  Francis  Seminary,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  besides  numberless 
societies  give  their  most  earnest  and  hearty  support  to  this  move- 
ment. 

.  The  Reformation  of  the  XVI  century  with  its  awakened 
spiritual  life  evidenced  its  change  from  the  old  order  of  affairs 
not  simply  in  doctrine  but  also  in  worship.  The  universal  priest- 
hood of  all  believers  was  a  doctrine  that  broke  the  barrier  inter- 
posed by  the  Roman  Church  between  man  and  God,  and  man's 
aspirations  soared  on  the  wings  of  Song  to  the  Eternal  throne. 
The  outburst  of  Song  during  that  period  created  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  Church  Music.  The  schools  of  the  day  were  the  pow- 
erful factors  in  developing  and  shaping  the  life  of  Church  Song. 
One  needs  only  to  examine  the  old  Agenda  in  order  to  be  con- 
vinced that  Church  Music  formed  one  of  the  essential  subjects  of 
instruction.  The  smallest  village  school  was  not  exempt  from 
this  duty.  To  the  honor  of  the  age  and  the  schools  be  it  said 
that  the  whole  range  of  Church  Song  received  most  careful  and 
thoughtful  attention.  In  the  schools  of  the  larger  towns  and 
cities  the  children  of  the  lowest  classes  committed  to  memory  and 
learned  to  sing  the  magnificent  inheritances  from  former  ages, 
set  forth  in  a  purified  Liturgy,  as  well  as  a  number  of  festival 
Hymns.  The  higher  grades  wrestled  with  the  entire  Psalter, 
principal  Hymns  and  even  artistic  polyphonic  compositions.  The 
music  of  the  school  was  the  music  of  the  Church  and  therein  re- 
ceived its  practical  application.    The  scholars  were  the  choristers 


'34 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


and  in  turn  became  the  teacheivS  of  the  congregation.  No  won- 
der the  stately  Chorals  entered  the  homes  of  the  people  aijd  ex- 
erted a  gracious  influence  over  their  daily  life. 

We  have  purposely  entered  somewhat  fully  into  historical 
details  in  order  to  show 

I .  That  the  Church  of  the  Past  always  endeavored  to  foster 
a  proper  type  of  music  in  schools  founded  through  her  instru- 
mentality or  by  her  sanction;  and  2.  That  whenever  the  music 
of  the  Church  began  to  deteriorate,  its  restoration  was  accom- 
plished through  a  system  of  training  given  in  schools.  We  al- 
most hesitate  to  turn  away  from  the  delightful  contemplation  of 
the  musical  status,  particularly  within  the  borders  of  our  own 
Church  in  the  Fatherland  more  than  300  years  ago,  to  look  at 
present  conditions  and  remedies  in  utilitarian  America. 

In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  in  matters  pertaining  to  mu- 
sic the  Protestant  Church  in  this  country  is  in  a  lamentable  con- 
dition. Many  causes  have  contributed  to  this  result,  chief  among^ 
which  are  depraved  taste,  musical  ignorance,  disdain  for  the 
Past,  denominational  rivalry,  and  monetary  greed.  Many  of  the 
sects,  whose  Hymnals  contain  much  that  is  worthy,  have  ungra- 
ciously flung  these  aside  and  are  feasting  in  a  most  voracious 
manner  upon  the  subjective  sentimentalities,  oft  insipid  produc- 
tions, and  religious  abominations  of  incorrectly-called  "Gospel 
Hymns. ' '  There  is  a  strong  suspicion  that  in  some  quarters  our 
own  Church  lies  in  the  path  of  this  blighting  Sirocco.  The  high- 
ly emotional  alone  satisfies,  while  the  calm,  decorous,  objective 
and  spiritually  edifying  is  relegated  to  the  shades  of  a  dead  form- 
alism. 

The  chaotic  condition  so  marked  in  the  music  of  the  sects 
does,  happily,  not  apply  in  an  equal  degree  to  our  Church;  yet 
who  is  so  bold  as  to  affirm  that  we  have  reached  the  top  step  of 
ideality?  It  may  not  be  very  palatable  to  us  who  glory  in  our 
faith  and  could  with  equal  consistency  glor}^  in  our  worship  with 
all  that  it  includes,  if  we  would  only  return  for  our  music  to  the 
period  that  gave  us  the  faith,  to  heai  the  editor  of  one  of  our 
foremost  periodicals  say: — "There  is  no  one  department  of  all  our 
Church  Praxis,  in  which  opinion  is  so  unsettled,  in  which  varia- 
tion is  so  striking,  in  which  caprice  and  ignorance  waltz  so  airily 
and  delightfully  together  through  the  sacred  realm;  where  choir- 
masters are  so  uncertain  as  tp  what  ought  and  ought  not  to  be 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM.  35 

sung;  where  organists  cannot  say  what  should  and  what  should 
not  be  excluded;  where  ideas  from  outside  denominations,  and 
suggestions  from  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil  are  so  freely 
drawn  upon,  as  is  the  case  in  the  music  of  our  Churches."^ 

The  truth  of  these  arraigning  words  cannot  be  challenged. 
It  is  undeniably  true  that  in  almost  every  department  of  our  Cul- 
tus  we  approach  the  ideal  nearer  than  in  that  of  Church  Music. 
This  ought  not  to  be  so.  With  us  music  is  an  integral  part  of 
worship.  Sectarians  employ  it  largely  as  an  ornament  helping 
to  adorn  an  otherwise  bleak  and  unsatisfactory  service.  Want  of 
knowledge  is  largely  responsible  for  the  lack  of  appreciation 
shown  our  musical  treasures.  One  of  the  enigmas  of  the  day  is 
the  fact  that  men  will  brook  a  style  of  music  in  the  Church, 
which  produced  in  the  concert- hall  would  disgust.  In  other 
words  they  demand  a  higher  standard  for  the  theatre  than  for  the 
Church.  For  us  a  distinct  line  of  demarcation  must  run  between 
the  music  of  the  Church  and  that  of  the  world.  The  music  of 
the  street  and  the  theatre  has  no  place  in  the  Services  of  our 
Church. 

It  is  a  comparatively  easy  matter  for  us  to  theorize;  but  the- 
orizing has  never  won  a  battle.  Lamentation  after  lamentation 
and  sigh  after  sigh  have  gone  forth  from  those  who  would  wish 
to  see  a  different  state  of  affairs  in  our  Church,  but  lamentations' 
and  sighs  have  never  rectified  our  musical  sins.  That  our  Church 
from  a  musical  standpoint  has  advanced  during  the  past  quarter 
of  a  century  cannot  be  denied;  but  her  advancement  in  this  direc- 
tion has  not  kept  pace  with  her  progress  in  other  directions. 
There  seems  to  be  but  one  solution  to  the  difficult  and  perplexing 
question — How  shall  we  attain  an  approximate  ideality  in  our 
Church  Music? — and  the  solution  rests  with  our  educational  in- 
stitutions. 

We  have  thus  far  looked  at  the  subject  rather  from  a  nega- 
tive viewpoint,  stating  facts  and  conditions,  and  permitting  the 
inference  that  Church  music  should  form  a  part  of  our  education- 
al system.    Let  us  now  view  the  subject  positively. 

The  distinctive  position  of  our  Church  demands  that  Church 
Music  become  a  part  of  systematic  education.  The  very  fact 
that  we  have  an  existence  independent  of  sectarian  bodies  is  evi- 
dence that  we  have  something  distinctive.  This  distinctiveness 
*  Lutheran  Church  Review,  XVII,  p.  382. 


36 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


is  characteristic  not  of  our  doctrine  onl}^,  but  of  our  Cultus  like- 
wise. Doctrine  and  Cultus  are  related  parts  of  an  organic 
whole.  Purit}^  in  the  one  demands  an  equal  purity  in  the  other. 
Just  as  our  faith  is  rooted  in  the  precious  soil  of  the  Divine  Word, 
so  our  Cultus  does  not  contravene  the  spirit  of  that  Word.  As 
little  as  our  Reformers  could  accept  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformed 
school  of  theologians,  just  as  little  could  the}^  accept  the  Re- 
formed tendencies  in  worship.  Our  doctrine  of  the  Word  deter- 
mined our  attitude  as  to  Cultus.  Our  Church  has  always  mag- 
nified the  Sacramental  element  in  worship;  the  Reformed,  the 
Sacrificial.  What  God  brings  to  man  is  Lutheran;  what  man 
brings  to  God  is  Roman  and  Reformed.  True,  our  Church  does 
not  lose  sight  of  the  Sacrificial  according  it  its  proper  place;  but 
objective  realit}^  is  ever  of  higher  importance  than  subjective 
emotionalism  or  individualism.  Excepting  the  Reformers  none 
understood  this  distinctive  position  of  our  Church  better  than  did 
the  Lutheran  composers  of  Church  Music  during  the  XVI  cen- 
tury'.  Hence  their  music  breathes  the  beautifully  calm,  contem- 
plative and  reflective  spirit,  admired  by  those  whose  taste  has  not 
been  vitiated  by  the  husks  of  musical  charlatans. 

There  is  another  element  that  enters  here  into  our  consider- 
ation. Our  Church  is  essentiall}^  a  liturgical  Church.  The  Re- 
former whose  name  she  bears  was  iconoclastic  onh^  in  so  far  as 
error  was  concerned.  He  failed  not  to  appreciate  the  helpful- 
ness, the  beauty,  the  majest}^  of  the  Liturgy.  Like  appreciative 
were  his  co-laborers  and  followers.  But  there  came  the  era  of 
Pietism  and  the  noble  structure  received  a  ruinous  and  uncalled- 
for  blow.  The  reaction  that  followed  in  the  days  of  Illumination 
and  Rationalism  completed  the  ruin.  The  fate  of  the  Liturgy 
was  the  fate  of  the  music.  The  Church  lost  sight  of  the  truly 
artistic  and  edifying  and  chaos  reigned  on  ever}^  side.  But  it 
was  not  ever  to  be  thus.  A  period  of  Restoration  came  and  that 
period  is  happily  marching  onward  with  ourselves  as  factors  in 
shaping  the  affairs  and  life  of  the  Church.  With  a  restored  Lit- 
urg;^'  should  we  not  also  have  a  restored  music?  How  illy  adapt- 
ed is  much  of  the  music  we  hear  in  our  day,  when  tested  by  the 
standard  of  the  Liturgy.  We  must  not  be  oblivious  of  the  fact 
that  the  Liturgy^  presents  organic  unity.  It  is  not  a  mixture  of 
incoherent  and  unrelated  parts,  but  a  living  embodiment  of  ex- 
quisitely dovetailed  harmom\    Resting  securely  upon  the  foun- 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  KDUCATIONAI.  SYSTEM.  37 

dation  of  the  Church  Year,  its  sweep  is  broad  and  comprehensive; 
yet,  cone-like,  it  ever  narrows  to  a  decided  point.  Like  our 
doctrine,  our  Liturgy  is  Christocentric.  Hence  from  the  very 
nature  of  things  and  with  a  sense  of  eternal  fitness  in  view,  the 
jarring  tones  of  a  rasping  music  cannot  adequatel}^  and  worship- 
fully  express  the  spirit  df  our  matchless  Service. 

The  point  of  application  is  this — we  need  in  our  system  of 
education  thorough  instruction  in  the  principles  of  Church  Mu- 
sic. But  our  Church  demands  more.  She  requires  that  her  in- 
structors in  this  Sacred  Art  be  men  qualified  to  teach  the  cognate 
subj  ect — Liturgies . 

Where  shall  this  instruction  begin?  Undoubtedly  the  most 
natural  place  is  the  Theological  Seminary.  Here  are  trained 
those  who  will  be  the  moulders  of  the  Church's  life  in  the  3'ears 
to  come.  The  careful,  judicious  pastor  exerts  a  vast  influence 
over  the  flock  in  his  charge.  If  qualified  to  speak  of  the  sur- 
passing merits  of  our  own  musical  treasures  and  competent  to 
point  out  the  defects  of  much  that  passes  for  Church  music,  ad- 
vancement along  the  line  of  correct,  churchly  taste  will  inevita- 
bly result.  The  hymnological  and  liturgical  treasures  of  our 
Church  remain  unused  principally  because  our  pastors  have  not 
had  their  attention  directed  to  them  in  a  practical  way.  Zealous- 
ly careful  to  warn  against  all  negative  tendencies  and  rigidly  ad- 
hering to  a  positive  theology,  our  Theological  Seminaries  neglect 
what  is  of  equal  importance — the  teaching  of  a  pure  type  of 
Church  Music.  We  seem  to  forget  that  through  the  medium  of 
music  error  is  propagated  in  a  more  subtle  way  than  through  that 
of  oral  or  written  speech.  Much  of  the  music  we  hear  in  our 
Churches  to-day  "voices  the  restlessness,  the  discontent,  the 
rationalistic  temper  of  our  century.  The  intentional  discords, 
the  startling,  peculiar  and  novel  harmonic  effects  are  typical,  not 
of  the  spirit  of  worship,  but  of  the  conflict  and  mental  unrest  of 
modern  thought."* 

Should  not  our  Seminaries  arm  our  students  against  this  in- 
sidious foe?  While  it  is  true  that  our  Church  does  not  offend  as 
heinously,  and  in  the  day  of  judgment  will  not  have  to  answer 
for  as  man3^  musical  sins  as  some  other  Protestant  bodies,  it  is 
also  true  that  perfection  is  not  one  of  our  attributes  and  the  soon- 
er we  enter,  in  our  Theological  Seminaries,  upon  a  course  of  re- 
*  Humphreys,  The  Evolution  of  Music,  p.  149. 


38 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


pentance  for  musical  iniquities  committed,  the  happier  will  be  the 
day  of  reckoning  for  our  Zion.  It  is  a  fact  not  without  signifi- 
cance that  those  sects  disturbed  by  doctrinal  dissatisfaction  and 
negative  disquietude,  have  permitted  "the  world,  the  flesh  and 
the  devil"  to  make  "merrie  music"  in  their  Churches. 

Furthermore,  our  Theological  Seminaries  should  fit  our  pas- 
tors to  be  leaders  not  in  the  Church's  thought  only,  but  in  her 
life  and  worship  also.  As  at  present  constituted  our  Theological 
education  promotes  a  one-sided  development,  exalting  Doctrine 
at  the  expense  of  Cultus.  In  making  this  statement  we  do  not 
wish  to  be  misunderstood.  In  none  of  the  departments  of  Theol- 
ogy should  there  be  a  lowering  of  the  standard  now  pursued,  but 
in  some  there  should  be  a  decided  advance.  We  do  not  want  less 
Systematic  Theology  taught  in  our  Seminaries,  but  we  do  want 
more  Practical.  Even  where  the  Cultus  of  the  Church  receives 
attention,  the  element  of  Church  Music  as  an  integrant  of  Cultus 
is  woefully  neglected. 

The  necessity  for  instruction  in  the  subject  at  hand  is  height- 
ened by  the  fact  that  the  taste  of  so  many  of  our  Church  mem- 
bers has  been  utterly  destroyed  or  at  least  fearfully  perverted  by 
a  degenerate  class  of  music;  and  that  our  organists,  as  a  rule,  are 
either  woefully  ignorant  of  I^utheran  Church  music,  or  else  have 
very  little  sympathy  with  it. 

We  think  we  are  not  far  wrong  in  asserting  that  outside  of 
the  cities  and  larger  towns  of  our  country,  few  of  our  organists 
have  even  a  speaking  acquaintance  with  pure,  Lutheran  Church 
music.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  many  of  our  organists  often  oc- 
cupy their  positions  by  virtue  of  their  skill  as  executants;  that 
conscious  of  their  ability  they  are  fond  of  displaying  their  virtu- 
osity; that  few  possess  the  knowledge  or  feel  the  spirit  of  that 
beautifully  subtile  relation  existing  between  Liturgy  and  Music, 
and  we  have  a  chain  of  events  hard  to  break  under  the  most  fa- 
vorable circumstances  and  a  hundredfold  harder  if  our  pastors 
lack  both  theoretical  and  practical  knowledge  of  true  music  for 
the  Church,  preventing  them  from  applying  in  a  mild,  kind  and 
intelligent  manner  the  rod  of  correction.  A  pastor  should  be 
able  to  deal  intelligently  with  all  phases  of  our  multiform  Church 
life.  This  he  cannot  do  if  ignorant  of  one  of  its  chief  factors — 
Church  Music. 

After  accepting  the  invitation  to  speak  upon  this  subject,  we 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  KDUCATlONAI,  SYSTEM.  39 


addressed  a  letter  to  each,  of  the  23  Theological  Seminaries  of  our 
Church  in  this  country,  asking  the  question, — "Is  Church  Music 
taught  in  your  Seminary?  If  so,  to  what  extent?' '  Twenty-two 
answers  were  received.  So  uniformly  negative  were  they,  with 
shame  either  expressed  or  implied,  that  the  following  five  afford 
refreshing  relief  from  the  monotonous  list  of  NOES: — 

"lyiturgical  singing  is  taught  in  the  regular  course  of  the  Senior  year 
and  practiced,  by  the  students  in  the  presence  of  the  Professor." — [Concordia 
Seminary,  St.  Louis,  Missouri.] 

"Yes,  we  try  to  give  our  students  a  little  of  the  theoretical  and  the 
practical  in  Church  Music.  It  is  not  much,  but  we  hope  to  improve  this 
part  of  the  course  materially  this  year." — [Chicago  Theological  Seminary.] 

"Connected  with  our  College  and  Theological  Seminar}^  is  a  good  and 
flourishing  Musical  Conservatory,  where  special  instruction  is  giv^en  for  or- 
ganists. A  Professor  of  this  Conservatory  gives  also  weekly  instruction  in 
Church  Music  to  the  students  in  our  Seminary." — [Swedish  Augustana, 
Rock  Island,  111.] 

"I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  song  and  Church  Music  are 
taught  in  our  Seminary.  Two  hours  a  week  are  devoted  to  this  study." — 
[Hauge  Norwegian,  Red  Wing,  Minn.] 

"From  two  to  three  hours  weekly,  practical  instruction  in  singing  the 
liturgical  responses  and  Chorals  is  given  in  our  Seminary.  Regular  Matin 
Services  are  held  every  day  alternating  in  German  and  English. 

The  German  'Hauptgottesdienst'  is  rendered  by  students  every  Mon- 
day morning  and  once  a  month  a  German  Vesper  Service  is  held  in  which 
the  well-trained  choir  of  St.  Johannis  takes  part.  This  Service  is  intoned  by 
the  pastor.  The  Professor  of  Liturgies  pays  a  good  deal  of  attention  to  the 
musical  rendering  of  the  Services." — [Mt.  Airy  Seminary,  Philadelphia,  Pa.] 
The  only  comment  we  desire  to  make  on  our  experience  with 
these  answers  is  that  our  English  congregations  which  need  a 
purer  type  of  Church  Music  most,  have  least  of  it  taught  in  their 
Seminaries.  May  the  time  soon  draw  apace  when  the  faculty 
roster  of  every  one  of  our  Seminaries  shall  display,  in  heavy  type, 

the  name  of  Dr.  ,  Professor  of  I^iturgics  and  Church 

Music. 

We  proceed,  however,  a  step  further,  and  venture  to  assert 
that  not  only  our  Theological  Seminaries,  but  also  our  Academic 
institutions  should  come  to  our  relief  and  help  us  meet  a  long- felt 
want.  Our  Colleges  are  the  offspring  of  the  Church,  They 
"live,  move  and  have  their  being"  in  the  life  of  the  Church.  A 
bond  of  the  closest  sympathy  should  unite  the  Church  and  her 
schools  of  learning.  The  College  through  its  students  is  able  to 
swell  the  power  and  influence  of  the  Church.    We  know  what 


40 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


a  power  for  good  laymen,  educated  along  conservative  lines,  exert 
in  congregations.  Our  young  people,  trained  in  our  institutions, 
should  be  and  usually  are  the  Aarons  and  Hurs  upholding  the 
arms  of  their  leaders — the  pastors.  Let  Church  Music  be  a  part 
of  the  curricula  of  studies  and  who  is  able  to  foretell  w^hat  excel- 
lent fruitage  will  in  time  mature  upon  the  tree  growm  from  the 
seed  of  this  most  noble  instruction. 

No  adequate  reasons  can  be  assigned  why  our  institutions  of 
learning,  established  and  supported  by  the  Church,  should  not 
express  their  devotions  in  the  restored  Matins  and  Vespers  of  the 
Common  Service;  and  if  their  use  be  re- enforced  by  a  clear  under- 
standing of  their  idea,  history  and  structure,  how  far  more  im- 
pressive they  become.  Clothe  their  mute  forms  in  the  musical 
melodies  and  tones  that  have  been  hallow^ed  by  time  and  the  de- 
votions of  unnumbered  millions  and  they  become  vibrant  with  a 
speech  that  lifts  the  soul  into  Jehovah's  presence.  Who,  familiar 
with  these  Services,  has  not  felt  their  spiritually  uplifting  influ- 
ence, as  they  have  touched  his  soul,  w^arming  it  with  the  glow  of 
a  holy  joy,  thus  making  it  impossible  for  him  to  descend  from 
the  sublime,  their  characteristic,  to  the  ridiculous,  the  character- 
istic of  so  much  that  passes  for  Church  music? 

Supplementary  to  a  thorough  acquaintance  with  the  Minor 
Services  should  be  a  most  intimate  know^ledge  with  the  Chief 
Service;  not  simply  a  general  idea  of  its  history-  but  a  clear,  in- 
trospective view  of  its  structure.  The  relation  of  part  to  part 
and  to  the  whole;  the  beautiful  chord  of  harm  on  3^  vibrating 
through  Introit,  Collect,  Epistle  and  Gospel;  the  division  of  the 
Service  into  its  Sacramental  and  Sacrificial  elements;  the  strong 
doctrinal  emphasis  everywhere  affirmed;  its  distinctiveness  in  the 
realm  of  Liturgiology ;  the  environments  necessary  for  a  proper 
presentation  and  correct  expression — these  with  many  others  are 
points  that  should  receive  attention  in  our  Collegiate  institutions. 
Then  inasmuch  as  these  liturgical  forms  are  historic  they  should 
also  have  the  historic  musical  settings,  the  oldest,  best  and  pur- 
est music  for  the  Church.  Nothing  but  the  very  best  should  en- 
gage the  minds  and  rivet  the  attention  of  our  3'oung  people.  To 
a  certain  extent  we  are  responsible  for  the  inartistic  and  pen^erted 
taste  displa5^ed  in  matters  musical.  People  will  sing  and,  in  lieu 
of  the  best,  shoddy  will  find  substitution.  Much  of  the  very 
best  Church  Music  is  not  adapted  to  the  necessities  of  our  En- 


CHURCH  MUSIC  AND  OUR  KDUCATIONAI,  SYSTEM.  41 

glish  congregations.  Our  Church  possesses  musical  ability  suf- 
ficient to  make  the  proper  adaptations. 

We  should  also  remember  that  College  days  form  the  plastic 
and  moulding  era  in  the  lives  of  our  young  people;  and  that 
tastes  cultivated  in  early  years  will  cling  tenaciously  to  the  un- 
folding, even  the  matured  life.  The  natural  gaiety  of  young 
persons  will  incline  to  the  trivial  and  sentimental,  and  it  requires 
constant  and  systematic  instruction  to  direct  their  tastes  into 
churchly  channels  and  make  them  realize  that  there  is  one  kind 
of  music  for  the  Church  and  another  for  amusemxcnt,  and  that 
the  two  are  antipodal  in  character. 

Suppose  our  higher  institutions  of  learning  should  use  the 
liturgical  Services  with  the  musical  settings  referred  to;  supple- 
ment these  by  such  hymn-tunes  as  have  well-rounded  melodies 
and  good,  broad  harmonies;  and  in  particular  satisfy  the  musical 
palates  of  the  students  with  the  precious  Chorals  in  their  original 
rhythmical  settings,  what  a  powerful  influence  such  examples 
would  exert.  Among  the  student  body  the  organization  of  a 
choir  capable  of  utilizing  the  polyphonic  compositions  of  the  old 
masters  should  not  be  an  impossibility.  In  this  manner  the 
whole  gamut  of  music  necessary  for  the  correct,  churchly  render- 
ing of  our  Services  would  receive  intelligent  treatment.  Four 
years  of  such  training  in  the  College  would  result  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  a  taste  incapable  of  being  satisfied  with  anything  of  lower 
form. 

Thus  equipped  let  these  young  persons  take  their  places  in 
the  congregations,  and  if  "knowledge  is  power,"  there  will  soon 
be  forces  in  operation  that  can  only  inure  to  the  best  interests  of 
our  Church.  To  plead  lack  of  time  is  only  another  form  of  ex- 
pressing unwillingness  or  disapprobation.  Glee  Clubs,  orchestras 
and  brass  bands,  consuming  more  time  than  would  the  introduc- 
tion and  practice  of  Church  music,  find  favor;  and  yet  these  are 
often  the  very  media  responsible  for  infatuation  with  either  a  de- 
praved taste  or  an  unchurchly  type  of  music. 

The  Church  has  for  years  been  aiming  at  uniformity,  not 
.only  as  to  forms  but  also  as  to  music,  and  if  ever  this  blessed  re- 
sult is  to  be  attained,  it  must  follow  the  course  of  all  true  Reform 
and  work  not  from  below  upward  but  from  above  downward.  It 
must  have  its  unifying  basis  first  and  foremost  in  the  ministry; 
be  fostered  in  the  liturgical  atmosphere  of   our  Theological 


42 


ESSAYS  OX  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


schools;  be  developed  in  the  growing  intelligence  of  the  students 
in  our  Academic  institutions;  and  receive  due  and  worthy  recog- 
nition in  the  exercises  of  other  branches  of  our  educational  sj's- 
tem — the  Parochial  and  Sunday  Schools. 

Though  uniformity  as  to  form,  practice  and  music  is  not  an 
element  essential  to  worship,  still  it  would  be  fraught  wdth  mani- 
fold advantages  both  to  minister  and  laj-men;  and  our  la3'men  ed- 
ucated in  our  higher  institutions  and  trained  therein  in  liturgical 
and  churchly  modes  of  thought  could  wonderfully  assist  in  the 
process  of  Reform  b}-  reason  of  the  respect  accorded  their  superior 
intelligence.  What  we  long  for  and  most  earnestly  desire  is  a 
churchl}-  type  of  music — a  tj-pe  that  per  se  expresses  liturgical 
feeling.  To  deny  the  possibilitj"  of  attainment  in  this  age  of 
sentimentalism  and  disunion  is  to  acknowledge  defeat  b}'  an  in- 
ferior enemy,  and  confess  the  triumph  of  the  base  over  the  re- 
fined. We  believe  there  is  enough  of  true  aesthetic  sentiment 
within  the  portals  of  otu'  Zion  not  simpl}"  to  affirm  the  possibility 
of  attainment  but  to  liberate  possibility  itself  from  the  gloom}^ 
realm  of  half  doubt  and  permit  it  to  enjoy  the  clear  atmosphere 
of  actuality.  The  practices  of  sectarianism  and  the  teaching  of 
our  public  school  S3^stem  may  oppose  but  cannot  finalh'  prevent 
victor}'  if  true  liturgical  consciousness  and  all  implied  in  it  be  in- 
spired through  systematic  training  given  by  our  theological,  aca- 
demic, parochial  and  Sundaj^  schools. 

We  must,  how^ever,  iise  our  treasures,  and  make  their  power 
felt  by  actual  contact,  for  this  is,  after  all,  the  most  effectual 
method  to  elevate  the  standard  of  Church  Music. 

Pursuing  this  method  w^e  shall  in  truth  return  to  the  classic 
Art-forms  of  the  Past  while  retaining  the  progressive  spirit  of  the 
Present.  The  banner  of  a  pure,  decorous  and  uplifting  worship 
music  will  then  once  again  float  in  graceful  folds  over  our  beloved 
Church,  and  possibly  then,  as  in  the  daj^s  of  the  Reformation,  the 
music  of  the  Church  will  be  the  music  of  daih*  life. 


THE  IvOCATION  OF  THE  CHOIR  AND  THE  ORGAN. 


BY  THK   REV.   GKO.  C.   F.   HAAS,   D.  D. 


The  location  of  the  choir  and  the  organ  in  the  Evangehcal  Eu- 
theran  Church,  hke  other  similar  questions  concerning  the  style 
of  the  church  building  and  the  arrangement  of  its  parts  and  fur- 
nishings, and  to  a  greater  degree  than  many  of  them,  is  a  mooted 
point.  Not  only  does  usage  in  this  matter  differ  widely,  but  the 
reasons,  both  practical  and  theoretical,  assigned  for  this  variation 
in  usage  are  equally  at  variance.  It  cannot,  therefore,  be  the 
purpose  of  this  short  paper  to  decide  a  question,  on  which  even 
those  who  have  made  a  special  study  of  the  subject  entertain  views 
so  diverse,  but  rather  only  to  point  out  the  varying  usage  and  to 
deduce  a  few  principles  to  guide  in  locating  the  choir  and  the  or- 
gan. 

It  may  be  stated  by  way  of  preface,  that  the  literature  of 
this  particular  subject  is  not  very  extensive.  Reference  is  made 
to  it,  generally  only  en  passant,  in  larger  works  on  practical  the- 
ology, of  which  may  be  mentioned:  G.  Rietschel,  Lehrbuch  der 
Liturgik  and  E.  Chr.  Achelis,  Lelu^biich  der  praktischen  Theolo- 
gie.  Monographs  on  the  subject,  to  which  the  writer  found  ref- 
erence, but  to  which  unfortunately,  in  the  limited  time  at  his 
disposal  he  could  not  get  access,  are:  Plass,  Der  Platz  fuer  Orgel 
und  Saengerchor;  Redlin,  Orgelempore  imd  Saengerchor;  Brathe, 
Die  Stellung  der  Orgel  in  der  Kirche;  and  Fr.  Spitta,  Die  Prin- 
cipien  fuer  die  Anf stellung  der  Orgel  im  evangelischen  Gottes- 
hause. 

In  approaching  the  subject  it  may  be  well  too  to  direct  at- 
tention to  the  fact,  that  not  only  must  the  choir  be  located  near 

(xliii) 


44 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


the  organ,  but  that  it  is  the  location  of  the  choir  which  in  princi- 
ple determines  the  location  of  the  organ,  and  not  the  reverse. 
The  choir  is  a  useful  and  important  factor  in  the  service  of  the 
Church,  the  organ  is  only  secondar}^  in  point  of  importance  and 
necessity. 

In  trying  to  determine  the  proper  location  of  choir  and  or- 
gan we  can  proceed  from  three  different  points  of  view,  the  kzs- 
torical,  the  theoretical  and  the  practical.  We  can  inquire  what  the 
usage  of  the  past  has  been,  in  order,  so  far  as  it  is  a  correct 
usage,  to  be  guided  by  it  in  the  present.  This  procedure  would 
be  quite  in  accordance  with  the  conservative  character  of  our 
Church.  Again  we  can  seek  theoretically  to  define  the  relation  of 
the  choir  to  the  congregation  and  its  position  in  the  w^orship  of 
the  Church,  and  from  these  data  try  to  deduce  its  proper  location 
in  the  house  of  worship.  Finally  we  can  see  what  influence  the 
practical  requirements  of  the  Service  and  the  limitations  of  actu- 
ality exercise  on  this  location. 

Looking  at  the  matter  from  the  historical  point  of  view,  we 
shall  not  be  able  to  return  a  definite  answer  to  the  question: 
Where  shall  the  choir  and  the  organ  be  located  ?  The  reason  for 
this  is  not  alone  that  usage  varies,  and  that  an  appeal  might  be 
made  to  it  to  sanction  widely  different  locations,  but  also  that  a 
considerable  part  of  this  usage  developed  under  a  system  of  doc- 
trine and  worship  at  variance  with  the  evangelical  idea.  There 
is  not  as  yet  a  specifically  Lutheran  style  of  church- architecture, 
nor  a  specifically  Lutheran  location  of  the  choir  and  organ.  At 
least  three  different  locations  are  possible  and  each  of  the  three  is 
represented  by  many  actual  examples  even  in  Lutheran  churches. 
The  organ  may  be  placed  in  or  near  the  chancel  on  one  side  of  it 
(the  pipe-w^ork  sometimes  divided  on  the  two  sides  of  the  chan- 
cel) and  the  choir  also  in  stalls  or  seats  within  the  chancel-space, 
elevated  a  few  steps  above  the  main  floor  of  the  church.  The 
location  of  the  choir,  as  well  as  the  organ,  in  this  place  can,  per- 
haps, claim  greater  antiquity  than  any  other  location.  It  is  the 
most  prevalent  location  in  the  Romish  church  and  the  most  nat- 
ural where  the  choir  is  clerical  rather  than  lay.  A  variant  of 
this  location  is  to  be  found  w^here  the  organ,  especially  in  cruci- 
form churches,  occupies  a  place  in  one  of  the  transepts  or  what 
corresponds  to  such,  usually  on  an  elevated  gallery,  the  choir  be- 
ing either  in  the  chancel  or  on  the  same  gallery  near  the  organ. 


THE  LOCATION  OF  THE  CHOIR  AND  THE  ORGAN.  45 

Again  the  organ  and  choir  may  be  placed  directly  opposite  the 
chancel  and  altar  at  the  other  (west)  end  of  the  church,  elevated 
on  a  galler>^  above  the  main  entrance.  Since  the  end  of  the  13th 
century  larger  churches  often  had  two  organs,  a  larger  one  on  the 
west  gallery  and  a  smaller  one  in  the  chancel  to  accompany  the 
choir  which  had  its  place  there.  Still  another  location  of  organ 
and  choir  is  at  the  end  of  the  church  where  the  chancel  is,  but  in 
a  central  position  and  back  of  and  above  the  altar  and  pulpit, 
the  latter  being  also  central  in  position  and  directly  behind  and 
above  the  altar.  This  arrangement  is  not  so  modern  as  many 
suppose.  Credit  for  suggesting  it  as  practical  and  expedient 
must  be  given  to  Joseph  Furttenbach,  municipal  architect  (Stadt- 
baumeister)  of  Ulm,  who  in  1649,  just  after  the  close  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War,  published  a  book  to  show  how  "congregations 
drained  by  the  war  might,  at  a  relatively  small  cost,  erect  a  suita- 
ble church-building."-''^  The  yery  reason  given  for  suggesting  it 
shows  this  location  of  the  organ,  considered  the  acme  of  modern 
progress  by  some,  together  with  the  arrangement  of  the  pulpit 
behind  and  above  the  altar- table,  so  lovingly  cherished  by  others, 
to  have  been  the  makeshift  of  necessity  rather  than  the  develop- 
ment of  an  ecclesiastical  or  architectural  idea.  From  the  histor- 
ical point  of  view  this  arrangement  has,  therefore,  nothing  to 
recommend  it.  Locations  other  than  those  referred  to,  as  e.  g., 
on  a  galler}'  in  the  middle  of  the  long  side  of  a  rectangular  build- 
ing, are  too  exceptional  in  character  to  require  mention,  whilst 
the  location  near  the  chancel  and  that  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
church  can  both  claim  consideration,  with  the  greater  weight  of 
usage,  perhaps,  in  favor  of  the  former. 

From  the  theoretical  point  of  view  we  must  consider  the 
relation  of  the  choir  to  the  congregation  and  its  function  in  the 
Service.  With  regard  to  this  relation  the  correct  principle  is 
enunciated  by  Th.  Harnack  f  as  follows:  "A  choir  separate  from 
and  independent  of  the  congregation  is  at  variance  with  evangel- 
ical worship."  The  assembled  congregation  and  it  alone  is  the 
subject  that  executes  the  act  of  worship.  Even  the  minister, 
whether  acting  in  a  sacrificial  or  a  sacramental  capacity,  acts  in 
and  with  the  congregation.  So  the  function  of  the  choir  too  is 
not  to  sing  at  the  congregation,  nor  yet  in  a  priestly  sense  /or  the 

*  G.  Rietschel,  Liturgik,  p.  iii. 
t  Praktische  Theo/ogie,  I,  519. 


46 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


congregation,  but  hi  and  with  it.    If  then  the  choir  is  a  part  of 
the  congregation,  this  would  seem  to  require  in  order  to  its  visi- 
ble expression,  that  the  choir  should  not  be  located  in  a  place 
opposite  to,  and  entirely  separated  from  the  congregation.  It 
should  not  directly  face  the  congregation,  but  turn  with  it  towards 
the  altar.    This  would  exclude  its  location  behind  and  above  the 
pulpit  and  altar,  which  location  is  unliturgical  also  because  the 
organ  usurps  the  place  in  the  sanctuary  that  is  the  most  central 
and  the  most  conspicuous,  which,  according  to  the  analogy  of  the 
whole  lyUtheran  service,  belongs  to  the  altar  only.    The  require- 
ment, that  the  choir  should  not  face  the  congregation,  does  not 
of  necessity  exclude  the  placing  of  the  choir  in  the  chancel  or  in 
the  transept.    As  to  whether  this  position  or  that  on  the  west 
gallery  is  more  in  accord  with  the  idea  of  the  evangelical  church- 
arrangement,  opinions  differ  widely.    The  Eisenacher  Regulativ, 
a  statement  of  the  principles  of  evangelical  church-architecture 
and  arrangement  laid  down  by  the  Conference  of  the  German 
Evangelical  Church- governments  in  connection  with  several  emi- 
nent ecclesiastical  architects,  held  in  Eisenach  in  1861,  favors  the 
west  gallery.    The  7th  thesis,  speaking  of  the  chancel  (choir), 
says:  "Other  stalls  than  those  for  the  minister  and  the  vestry, 
and,  where  it  is  sanctioned  b}^  usage,  the  confessional,  do  not  be- 
long there."    Thesis  11,  which  deals  with  the  organ,  expressly 
states:  "The  organ,  near  which  also  the  precentor  with  the  choir 
must  be  placed,  finds  its  natural  place  opposite  the  altar  at  the 
western  end  of  the  church  on  a  gallery  above  the  main  entrance."* 
A  diametrically  opposite  view  is  held  and  advocated  by  P.  Veese- 
meyer  of  Wiesbaden,  who  would  have  the  organ  and  choir  located 
in  the  rear  of  the  altar.    His  entire  proposals,  however,  seem  to 
be  more  in  accord  with  the  Reformed  than  with  the  I^utheran  view 
of  the  church-edifice.    Dr.  Achelis  in  his  Praktische  Theologie 
(p.  241)  draws  the  conclusion:  "The  organ  finally  is  to  be  re- 
leased from  its  unnatural  and  inappropriate  position  in  the  rear 
of  the  congregation  and  to  be  united  with  the  pulpit  and  the  al- 
tar in  one  group."    From  the  theoretical  point  of  view  so  much 
is  evident,  but  in  spite  of  various  and  insistent  advocates,  the 
central  position  in  the  face  of  the  congregation  and  above  the  al- 
tar cannot  be  maintained.    As  to  the  location  in  the  chancel  or 
in  the  west  gallery  it  is  difficult  to  decide,  proper  safeguards  be- 
*  Cf.  Rietschel,  pp.  1 20-1 21. 


THE  IvOCATlON  OF  THE  CHOIR  AND  THE  ORGAN.  47 

ing  observed,  which  is  more  in  accord  with  the  idea  and  principle 
of  the  evangehcal  service. 

If  now  we  turn  to  the  practical  point  of  view,  that  of  adap- 
tation to  the  needs  and  requirements  of  the  actual  congregation 
at  the  present  time,  the  indications  seem  to  point  in  the  same 
direction.  To  place  choir  and  organ  in  full  view  of  the  congre- 
gation, especially  in  a  central  and  elevated  position,  where  they 
can  and  must  be  seen,  is  decidedly  objectionable,  not  onl}^  because 
the  necessary  moving  about,  turning  of  music,  manipulating  of 
stops  and  the  like — not  to  mention  the  frequent,  unnecessary 
restlessness  of  the  choir — is  bound  to  distract  the  congregation, 
but  also  because  the  personal  element,  especially  in  a  mixed 
choir,  becomes  obtrusive,  and  how  Miss  A.  opens  her  mouth 
when  she  sings,  and  what  kind  of  millinery  Miss  B.  displays,  and 
how  the  organist  perspires  over  his  hard  work  is  not  particularly 
conducive  to  edification.  Moreover  when  we  are  sung  at,  we  are 
involuntarily  reminded  of  the  concert-hall  and  the  stage.  It  is 
not  the  singer,  but  the  song,  it  is  not  even  the  song  in  its  ses- 
thetical,  but  only  in  its  devotional  aspect  as  a  part  of  our  worship 
that  we  want  to  be  aware  of.  All  else  distracts.  Whether  the 
choir  and  organ  are  to  be  in  the  chancel  or  on  the  gallery  as  a 
practical  question,  would  depend  largely  on  the  architecture  of 
the  church,  the  kind  of  choir,  mixed  or  boy -choir,  and  like  con- 
siderations. 

Summing  up  the  results  of  our  investigation,  the  following 
principles  should  be  observed  in  the  choice  of  the  location  for  the 
organ  and  the  choir. 

1.  This  location  is  not  fixed  by  any  definite  rule,  but  is 
to  be  determined  by  what  is  appropriate  in  an  Evangelical  Lu- 

^  theran  Church. 

2.  In  determining  what  is  appropriate,  the  usage  of  the 
past,  while  affording  valuable  hints,  is  too  diverse  to  be  conclu- 
sive. 

3.  The  theoretical  consideration  of  what  is  most  in  ac- 
cord with  the  idea  of  the  lyUtheran  Service  offers  the  most  valua- 
ble help  toward  solving  the  question  before  us. 

4.  The  negative  consideration  of  avoiding  w^hat  is  inap- 
propriate, as  being  either  unevangelical  or  unliturgical,  should 
be  accorded  its  full  value. 

5.  The  location  of  choir  and  organ  so  as  to  face  the  con- 


48 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


gregation,  especially  directly  and  centrally,  is  to  be  discouraged. 

6.  The  location  in  the  chancel,  while  in  accord  with  the 
most  ancient  usage  and  not  objectionable  as  such,  may  easily  be 
conceived  as  expressing  the  Romish  idea  of  the  separation  of  the 
active  factors  in  the  Service  from  the  congregation  and  their  rele- 
gation to  a  place  of  special  sanctity,  rather  than  their  unity  with 
the  congregation. 

7.  The  location  on  the  west  gallery  seems  in  general 
most  easily  to  accord  with  the  greatest  number  of  theoretical  and 
practical  demands  of  the  Lutheran  Service. 


THE  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOE  FOR 
CHURCH  MUSIC. 


BY  THE   REV.  I.UTHER   D.  REED. 


At  the  last  Convocation  held  in  New  York  City  some  attention 
was  given  to  a  proposition  looking  to  the  establishment  of  a  Sum- 
mer School  for  Church  Music.  By  resolution  the  whole  subject 
was  referred  to  the  Convocation  Committee  appointed  by  the 
General  Council  for  further  consideration  and  report.  At  sever- 
al meetings  of  the  Connnittee  held  in  Philadelphia  the  plan  was 
briefly  discussed  and  the  writer  was  asked  to  give  further  study 
to  the  subject  and  to  outhne  the  plan  and  work  of  such  a  School 
in  a  paper  to  be  read  at  this  Convocation  as  a  means  of  bringing 
the  topic  definitely  and  clearly  before  us  for  the  fullest  discussion 
and  further  action. 

New  conditions  confront  us  as  a  Church.  New  problems  are 
ever  arising  and  calling  for  solution.  Matters  which  gave  our 
fathers  the  greatest  concern,  no  longer  disturb  us.  Questions  of 
Church  life  and  government  unthought  of  forty  years  ago,  now 
press  upon  us  insistentl}-.  Doctrinally  we  are  at  peace,  and  when 
the  gates  of  Janus  are  closed  Minerva  reigns.  Denominational 
chaos  has  given  way  before  the  light  of  confessional  truth.  The 
historic  foundations  of  our  Church  have  been  discovered.  We 
have  gone  back  to  the  Rock  from  which  we  were  hewn  and  have 
begun  again,  upon  its  enduring  verities,  to  erect  our  temple  of 
worship.  The  God-given  talents  of  her  loyal  children  are  being 
consecrated  to  the  fashioning  and  adorning  of  this  structure  in 

(xlix) 


50 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


reverent  beauty.  The  rapid  progress  of  Anglicization,  the  growth 
in  general  intelligence,  culture  and  wealth  of  our  people,  have 
prepared  the  way  for  an  intensive  development  that  must  go  hand 
in  hand  with  the  extensive.  We  say  that  the  present  widespread 
interest  and  activity  in  the  field  of  lyitiirgical  study,  with  all  that 
this  includes  in  Christian  Art  and  Church  Music,  is  not  simply 
the  result  of  the  zeal  of  a  few  enthusiastic  pastors,  but  is  the  re- 
sultant of  the  interworking  of  important  present-day  factors  and 
conditions.  This  development  must  be  guided,  it  must  be  con- 
trolled. It  must,  furthermore,  be  controlled  by  principles  which 
can  only  be  known  from  a  thorough  study  of  the  history  and 
genius  of  our  own  Church,  as  well  as  from  an  appreciation  of  the 
historic  continuity  of  all  Christian  Art  as  an  expression  of  Chris- 
tian truth.  These  principles  must  determine  our  ideals.  If 
these  principles  do  not  control  we  shall  soon  have  deformity  in- 
stead of  development.  Upon  our  knowledge  and  application  of 
these  correct  principles  in  the  solution  of  the  present  problems 
depends  much  of  the  future  history  of  our  Church,  the  charac- 
ter she  will  bear  in  the  world  and  the  influence  she  will  exert 
over  her  own  children. 

Necessarily  there  is  an  inner  relation  and  harmony  between 
all  the  Arts.  And  yet,  like  advancing  columns  of  a  single  army, 
some  may  enter  upon  the  march  before  others.  In  this  manner 
we  can  say  that  of  all  the  Liturgical  Arts,  Music  has  perhaps 
been  the  latest  to  move  along  the  lines  of  conservative,  historical, 
adequate  ideals.  The  liturgical  impulse,  the  desire  to  adequately 
and  fittingly  express  common  Christian  devotion  in  artistic  forms, 
has  already  manifested  itself  more  or  less  clearly  and  truly  in  a 
restored  Liturgy  and  in  an  improved  Church  Architecture.  It 
has  hardly  begun  to  influence  our  Church  Music  to  any  apprecia- 
ble degree.  We  are  just  coming  to  appreciate  the  real  spirit  of 
Church  Music — its  relation  to  everything  else;  just  beginning  to 
understand  the  true  criteria  by  which  it  must  be  determined,  and 
just  commencing  to  grasp  the  vast  possibilities  before  our  Art 
when  it  once  unites  its  talents  with  its  sister  Arts  in  giving  ade- 
quate expression  to  a  worthy  ideal  of  Divine  Service.  It  is  true, 
earnest  students  in  various  parts  of  the  Church  have  been  for 
years  pointing  out  the  way,  but  the  Church  as  such  is  just  be- 
ginning to  respond  to  their  calls  and  placing  itself  in  a  position 
to  be  taught. 


TETB  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOI.  FOR  CHURCH  MUSIC.  51 

So  much  is  to  be  done  that  at  times  it  seems  almost  discour- 
aging. Error  must  be  dislodged,  and  a  desire  for  truth  implanted. 
Eyes  so  familiar  with  error  cannot  be  brought  at  once  to  recog- 
nize and  to  love  the  truthful  forms.  It  is  true  something  has 
been  done — a  clearing  has  been  made  in  the  wilderness.  It  is 
generally  admitted  that  Moody  and  Sankey  hymns  and  tunes  are 
to  be  discouraged,  but  little  use  is  made  of  our  wealth  of  Choral 
melodies.  Organists  have  come  to  pay  some  attention  to  the 
Church  Year  and  its  demands,  but  they  still  quite  generally  seem 
to  suppose,  as  a  German  critic  expresses  it,  that  ^'ever)^  operatic 
selection  is  sanctified  by  being  played  on  the  Church  organ." 
The  great  number  of  our  Church  musicians  have  not  even  a 
speaking  acquaintance  with  the  noblest,  the  most  beautiful  forms 
of  our  true  Church  Music  of  the  past,  while  of  the  great,  all-de- 
termining principles  of  liturgical  unitj'  and  coherence — the  har- 
monious co-operation  of  all  the  Arts  and  their  subordination  to 
the  Liturgy  and  the  Church  Year — even  less  is  appreciated.  We 
are  a  Church  with  the  richest  liturgical  and  musical  history  of 
Protestantism.  But  this  history  was  all  written  in  centuries  past. 
Our  recent  histor}'-,  until  within  a  generation  or  more,  savors  of 
the  unhappy  wanderings  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  who  forsook  the 
treasures  of  his  father's  house  to  dwell  with  strangers  and  was 
soon  reduced  to  abject  poverty  and  a  fare  of  the  veriest  husks. 
Happily  the  present  spirit  of  sorrow  for  past  sins  promises  a  full 
and  blessed  return  to  all  possessions  and  privileges  guaranteed  us 
by  our  birthright. 

But,  really,  the  present  confusion  and  lack  of  adequate  litur- 
gical and  musical  knowledge  in  our  Church  is  appalling.  Pastors 
and  organists  are  alike  guilty.  The  very  consciousness  of  ignor- 
ance and  the  desire  to  improve  is  often  an  element  of  danger,  be- 
cause individual  taste  and  chance  environment  largely  determine 
the  direction  of  the  further  study  of  many.  Hence  too  frequent- 
ly some  of  our  liturgical  practice  and  nearly  all  of  our  musical 
furnishing  is  drawn  from  foreign  sources  or  comes  to  us  from  our 
own  second  or  third-handed,  and  of  course  mutilated  and  de- 
formed. But  little  attention  is  paid  in  the  Seminaries,  even  at  the 
present,  to  systematic  instruction  in  the  theoretical  and  practical 
departments  of  liturgical  study.  Men  go  out  into  the  ministry 
from  many  different  Seminaries,  each  of  which  has  a  different 
liturgical  atmosphere — some  indeed  so  rare  that  it  barely  suffices 


52 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


to  keep  alive  a  semblance  of  liturgical  life.    Local  practices,  tra- 
ditions or  prejudices  continue  to  perpetuate  themselves  in  the 
mental  attitude  of  the  minister  or  of  the  individual  congregation. 
Some  enthusiasts,  with  a  zeal  that  is  not  according  to  knowledge, 
seek  to  graft  Anglican  shoots  upon  our  Lutheran  stock;  some 
transplant  local  German  customs  and  usages  into  soil  often  un- 
congenial; some  are  attracted  by  the  sensuous  power  of  Roman 
practice  and  would  freely  borrow  anything  that  is  pre-Reforma- 
tion,  while  the  great  majority  still  give  no  thought  to  the  whole 
subject,  but  live  and  move  and  have  their  being  in  a  practically 
unliturgical- atmosphere,  even  though  they  mechanically  read  the 
forms  in  the  Church  Book  every  Lord's  Day.    For  the  mechan- 
ical conformity  to  the  Church  Book  and  its  forms  is  the  charitable 
mantle  that  frequently  covers  a  multitude  of  liturgical  sins. 
Then  add  to  this  that  the  average  theological  student  and  pastor 
knows  absolutely  nothing  about  Church  Music,  in  either  a  theo- 
retical or  practical  sense,  beyond  a  possible  ability  to  sing  by  note 
and  play  a  hymn  tune.    If  this  were  all  it  were  good.    But  what 
of  the  state  of  affairs  on  the  organ  bench  and  in  the  choir  loft  ? 
Even  in  point  of  technical  abilit}^  and  expression,  we  must  con- 
fess that  the  great  majority  of  our  organists  are  lamentably  weak. 
Outside  of  a  very  few  Churches  in  our  largest  cities  and  towns, 
our  organs  and  choirs  are  in  the  hands  of  those  who,  however 
earnest  and  devout,  have  had  but  the  most  inadequate  training; 
and  of  those  who  have  had  larger  opportunities  and  experience, 
no  two  express  the  same  distinctive  apprehension  of  Church  Mu- 
sic.   We  have  organists  whose  ideals  have  been  determined  by 
Anglican  or  Episcopalian  canons,  organists  of  German  training 
and  thinking,  organists  self-educated — of  little  training  and  less 
thinking,  organists  influenced  by  Roman  Catholic  atmospheres, 
and  organists  who  have  never  felt  the  influence  of  any  churchly 
school,  but  who  supposed  their  office  to  be  the  mere  making  of 
music  m  the  Church — who  know  nothing  of  the  cultivation  and 
expression  of  the  Music  of  the  Church.    Then  add  to  this  the 
fact  that  not  one  in  a  hundred  has  any  acquaintance  with  the 
liturgical  side  of  the  question,  and  that  this  one  is  probably  the 
only  one  who  considers  it  of  any  importance  at  all,  and  it  is  not 
difficult  to  realize  that  our  present  condition  as  a  Church  in  the 
matter  of  Church  Music  is  anything  but  encouraging  to  those 
who  know  of  past  achievement  and  who  realize  future  possibility. 


THE  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOI.  FOR  CHURCH  MUSIC.  53 

But  I  am  no  pessimist.  I  do  not  gloat  over  the  gruesome 
list  of  deformities  and  enormities  I  have  enumerated.  My  pur- 
pose has  been  simply  to  point  out  that  a  calm  and  unbiased  study 
of  the  situation  shows  that  a  condition  of  awakened  liturgical 
and  musical  interest  is  evident  in  our  Church,  and  that  the  situ- 
ation must  be  met  and  controlled;  and  that  the  forces  to  be  or- 
ganized and  led  forth  to  future  achievement  are  in  confusion  and 
disorder  dire. 

How  shall  w^e  reach  and  amalgamate  them?  The  Seminaries 
can  do  much  for  our  future  pastors,  if  they  will  provide  adequate 
courses  in  I^iturgics  and  Church  Music.  But  what  about  the 
host  of  workers  in  the  ministr)^  and  the  many  organists  and  choir- 
masters who  are  already  in  the  work  ?  There  is  no  possible  way 
for  even  our  forthcoming  organists  to  acquire  either  the  necessa- 
ry liturgical  knowledge  or  the  highly  necessary  uniformity  of 
Church  style.  How  shall  we  reach  the  Church  of  the  present, 
the  Church  as  it  is  at  work  to-day  ?  I  think  w^e  will  all  agree 
that  as  a  means  to  this  end  our  Convocations  are  quite  helpful 
within  a  limited  sphere,  and  particularly  as  we  are  able  to  dis- 
tribute literature  will  our  influence  widen.  But  it  has  been  the 
opinion  of  some  who  have  given  the  subject  some  thought,  that 
by  the  establishment  of  a  Summer  School  for  Church  Music  it 
might  be  possible  to  do  still  more  effective  work  in  this  important 
field. 

Investigation  discloses  the  fact  that  the  Summer  School  has 
attained  a  remarkable  importance  and  influence  in  the  education- 
al world.  The  first  serious  attempt  to  hold  such  a  school  seems 
to  have  been  made  by  Professor  Agassiz  on  the  Island  of  Peni- 
kese.  Dr.  Sauveur  almost  immediately  began  his  Summer  School 
of  I^anguages  at  Plymouth,  and  in  1874  Dr.  J.  H.  Vincent  in- 
augurated the  work  at  Chautauqua.  Critics  immediately  urged 
the  numerous  disadvantages  of  Summer  study  and  predicted  a 
short  life  for  the  institution.  But  the  Summer  School  came  to 
stay.  It  has  accomplished  and  is  accomplishing  a  great  mission. 
Of  course  there  are  Summer  Schools  and  Summer  Schools.  Some 
one  has  characterized  the  rush  to  Chautauqua  as  two-thirds  camp- 
meeting  or  picnic  and  one- third  intellectual  tickle.  But  in  many 
of  the  Schools  much  serious  work  is  done,  especially  in  the  de- 
jjartments  of  Pedagogy,  Languages  (Ancient  and  Modern)  and 
Science.     The   great  majority  of  students  in  the  University 


54 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


Courses  are  teachers  in  the  various  High  and  Normal  Schools, 
School  Superintendents  and  College  Professors,  who  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  to  learn  the  latest  methods  of  work,  to 
meet  the  great  investigators  and  teachers  of  their  various  depart- 
ments, to  get  new  points  of  view,  and  in  general  to  keep  abreast^ 
of  the  intellectual  progress  of  the  day,  precisely  as  the  University 
Professors  themselves  go  to  Berlin,  I^eipsic,  Paris  or  Rome  for 
the  very  same  purpose.  Many  come  to  the  large  eastern  Univer- 
sities from  the  Pacific  Coast  and  the  South  West  at  an  expendi- 
ture of  money,  time  and  strength  that  is  quite  commensurate 
with  the  eastern  man's  going  abroad. 

Statistics  gathered  from  individual  catalogues  and  from  a 
Report  of  Melvil  Dewey,  Director,  to  the  Regents  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  the  State  of  New  York  in  1898  on  the  general  subject  of 
Summer  Schools,  are  surprising  and  interesting.  Eleven  Schools 
were  reported  in  New  York  State,  including  Chautauqua,  Cornell, 
New  York  University,  Columbia  College,  and  a  Catholic  Summer 
School.  Two  Summer  Schools  are  reported  in  Canada.  Nearly 
every  State  and  Territory  in  the  United  States  is  represented  b}^ 
at  least  one  or  more.  A  Summer  course  is  provided  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  of  four  weeks,  with  a  fee  of 
2£  2S.  Here  every  Monday,  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Friday  af- 
ternoon and  all  of  Saturday  is  spent  in  special  excursions.  There 
is  a  school  of  two  weeks  at  Oxford  University  and  at  Jena,  Ger- 
many, one  of  three  weeks.  A  course  at  the  University  of  Greifs- 
wold,  Germany,  continues  for  six  weeks.  At  the  University  of 
Geneva,  Switzerland,  there  is  a  course  in  modern  French  lasting 
twelve  weeks.  In  July  and  August  of  last  year  seven  hundred 
public  school  teachers  studied  methods  of  teaching  music  in  pub- 
lic schools  in  various  summer  schools  supported  by  the  different 
publishers.  In  1900,  seven  hundred  and  eighty-four  students 
pursued  several  courses  offered  by  the  Harvard  Faculty  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  and  fifty- four  students  were  registered  in  the  Sum- 
mer School  of  Theology.  Altogether  statistics  have  been  re- 
ceived from  one  hundred  and  eighty-one  separate  Summer  Schools 
all  over  the  world.  The  probability  is  that  many  of  these  will 
have  but  a  short  life.  The  tendency  is  toward  centralization. 
The  smaller  and  least  equipped  will  die;  those  connected  with  the 
larger  Universities  will  increase.  But  many  smaller  Schools  de- 
voted to  some  particular  study  or  controlled  by  distinctively  de- 


THE  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOL  FOR  CHURCH  MUSIC.  55 

nominational  influence,  will  continue  to  develop  and  to  exert  an 
influence  that  is  inestimable. 

All  this  simply  indicates  something  of  the  influence  which 
the  application  of  the  Summer  School  idea  has  been  made  to  exert 
in  many  lines  of  educational  development,  especiall}^  in  our  own 
country.  Our  public  school  teachers,  our  College  Professors, 
our  pastors  and  general  students  in  every  department  of  thought 
have  freely  availed  themselves  of  the  advantages  offered  in  Sum- 
mer Schools  established  to  teach  Science,  the  Languages,  Philos- 
ophy, Pedagogy,  Music  and  strictly  Denominational  Theology. 
Why  can  we  not  use  the  Summer  School  for  the  training  of  our 
pastors  and  organists  in  the  wonderfully  important  field  of  our 
Church  Music? 

The  plan  I  would  suggest  is  briefly  as  follows: — Secure,  if 
possible,  the  use  of  the  Seminar}-  grounds  and  buildings  at  Mt. 
Airy,  Philadelphia,  for  a  term  of  two  weeks  in  the  latter  part  of 
July  or  the  beginning  of  August.  Choose  a  Dean  who  would  be 
in  a  sense  the  Manager  of  the  School  and  who  would  have  all  the 
business  details  in  charge.  Select  certain  Professors  who  shall 
be  responsible  for  certain  departments,  as  I  shall  develop  later. 
Let  three  hours  of  each  morning  be  devoted  to  lectures,  demon- 
strations and  conferences  under  the  direction  of  the  Professors. 
Occasional  evening  programs  of  concerts,  organ  recitals,  choir 
Works,  or  special  Services  could  doubtless  be  arranged,  as  the  use 
of  St.  Michael's  Church,  Germantown,  and  the  assistance  of 
man}^  Philadelphia  singers  and  others  could  in  all  probability  be 
secured.  The  Seminary  buildings  could  be  used  for  lectures  and 
the  rooms  in  the  dormitory  might  be  available  for  the  use  of  those 
attending  for  a  reasonable  consideration.  Families  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  furnish  board  to  the  Seminar)^  students,  would  no 
doubt  be  glad  to  do  the  same  for  the  students  of  the  Summer 
School.  There  are  two  large  boarding  houses  (the  Mt.  Pleasant 
House  and  the  Mt.  Air}^  House)  within  three  squares  of  the  Sem- 
inary, that  would  doubtless  be  willing  to  ^upply  both  board  and 
lodging  to  students  at  reasonable  rates, — rates  that  would  com- 
pare ver}-  favorably  with  those  that  would  have  to  be  paid  at  any 
cottage  or  hotel  at  mountain  or  seashore. 

The  location  of  the  Seminary  and  its  environments  would 
make  an  ideal  place  for  such  a  School.  The  Seminary  grounds 
in  themselves  are  spacious  and  beautifully  shaded.    Croquet  and 


56 


KSSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


tennis  courts,  with  delightful  walks  to  the  beautiful  Wissaliickon 
and  occasional  trolley  parties  to  Willow  Grove  where  the  Dam- 
rosch  Orchestra  may  be  heard  daily,  and  many  other  outing^ 
that  might  be  taken,  would  supply  abundant  healthful  recreation 
and  pleasure.  The  Seminary  Library  and  convenient  public  li- 
braries together  with  the  many  advantages  of  close  proximity  to 
the  city,  might  be  features  that  would  be  attractive  to  others. 

Establish  the  fee  for  the  entire  course  of  two  weeks  at  $5.00, 
one  week  $3.00 — tickets  to  admit  to  all  lectures  and  special  con- 
certs or  recitals. 

I  would  suggest  six  departments  in  the  course  of  study,  each 
department  to  be  in  charge  of  one  Professor,  who  could  arrange 
with  others  to  deliver  lectures  upon  certain  topics  with  which  he 
might  be  especially  familiar,  if  he  so  desired.  But  at  all  events 
he  would  be  responsible  for  his  department  whether  he  delivered 
all  the  lectures  upon  its  subjects  himself  or  had  assistance  from 
others. 

I.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THH  LITURGY. 

Theory  of  Worship. 

History  of  the  Liturgy. 

Relation  of  the  Liturgy  to  Church  Music. 

Analysis  of  Our  Services,  etc. 

II.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THEORY  AND  HISTORY  OF  CHURCH 
MUSIC. 

Art  in  Worship. 

Historical: — Old  Testament,  Early  Christian,  Reforma- 
tion, Modern. 

Service  Music — Choral — Choir  Music. 

Instrumental  Music. 

Music  in  Sunday  Schools,  etc. 

III.  DEPARTMENT  OF  SERVICE  MUSIC. 

Characteristics  of  Gregorian  Music,  Historical  and  Theo- 
retical. 

Intonation,  Response,  Psalmody,  etc. 
Analysis  of  the  Service  Music. 

IV.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CONGREGATIONAL  HYMN. 

Hymnology — Hymn  Writers,  Periods,  etc. 
Characteristics  of  Pure  Hymns. 


THE  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOI.  FOR  CHURCH  MUSIC.  57 

Hymn  Melodies — German  Choral,  Anglican  Hymn  Tune. 
Congregational  Singing. 

V.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  CHOIR. 

Theoretical — Sphere  of — Personnel,  etc. 
Literature— Choir  Music. 

Practical — Rehearsals,    Methods,    Volunteer  Choir,  Boy 
Choir,  lyocation,  Vestments,  etc. 

VI.  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  ORGAN. 

Historical  and  Theoretical. 

Technical — Style,  etc. 

Accompaniments. 

Playing  the  Service,  Chorals,  etc. 

Preludes,  Postludes,  etc. 

Organ  Literature. 
Such  in  brief  is  the  outline  of  the  plan  I  would  suggest. 
Careful  discussion  here  and  further  consideration  by  the  Com- 
mittee and  others  might  amend  and  greatly  improve  it.  I  believe 
that  the  plan  of  a  Summer  School  should  receive  our  most  earnest 
consideration  as  a  Convocation.  If  deemed  advisable  it  might  be 
referred  through  the  Committee  to  the  General  Council  for  en- 
dorsement. I  believe  that  it  is  feasible  in  every  respect.  I  be- 
lieve that  it  will  accomplish  results  that  cannot  be  obtained  in 
any  other  wa}- .  Our  present  unsatisfactory  state  of  Musical  and 
Liturgical  knowledge  as  a  Church  is  one  that  cannot  be  entirely 
remedied  by  the  mere  distribution  of  literature,  even  if  that  were 
available  for  the  purpose. 

Our  pastors  would  have  lacked  one  of  the  most  powerful  in- 
fluences of  their  training  and  one  of  the  greatest  elements  of  their 
efficiency  if  they  had  not  had  the  advantage  of  systematic  instruc- 
tion in  regularly  conducted  Theological  Institutions.  And  I 
think  every  pastor  will  agree  with  me  that  the  mere  study  of 
books — the  mere  absorbing  of  printed  facts  and  theories — how- 
ever carefully  directed,  was  the  least  of  all  the  influences  that 
combined  to  shape  and  mould  his  thinking.  Personal  contact 
with  men  and  institutions,  professors,  leaders  of  thought  and  fel- 
low students,  clear  and  deep  insight  into  the  methods  and  spirit 
of  the  Church  at  work,  close  study  and  observation  of  existing 
conditions  and  requirements,  and  some  practical  personal  endeav- 
or to  meet  these — all  these  things  and  many  more  of  similar  char- 


58 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


acter  were  the  really  determining  influences  that  gave  him  a  true 
and  definite  orientation — an  estimate  of  true  values  and  relations. 
It  is  just  this  training  of  our  clergy  with  its  later  immeasurable 
influence,  that  gives  us  a  clean,  clear-cut,  definite  character  as  a 
Church,  especially  in  the  theological,  the  doctrinal  fields.  Now 
the  same  may  be  true  of  conditions  in  the  department  of  Church 
Music.  In  this  field  we  are,  at  present,  much  in  the  condition  of 
our  Church,  doctrinally,  before  the  establishment  of  our  Theo- 
logical Seminaries  and  the  beginnings  of  a  theological  literature 
in  English.  All  was  confusion,  uncertainty,  disorder.  So  now 
we  have  no  definite  type  or  style  (in  its  best  sense)  of  Church 
Music.  There  is  no  uniformity.  Our  best  musicians  necessarily 
reflect  widely  divergent  training.  There  has  never  been  any  op- 
portunity for  amalgamation,  for  conference  and  mutual  influence. 
By  far  the  greater  amount  of  our  true  Church  Music  whether  in 
Service  Music,  Chorals  or  Choir  Music,  is  still  locked  up  with  its 
Latin  and  German  text  and  is  unavailable  for  present  use. 
Nothing  that  I  can  think  of  could  be  of  greater  service  and  be 
more  fruitful  of  results  than  the  establishment  of  such  a  Summer 
School  where  there  would  be  abundant  opportunity  for  the  per- 
sonal association  and  contact  of  our  ablest  Church  Musicians. 
The  lectures  would  be  followed  by  informal  conferences  and  these 
again  supplemented  by  private  discussion.  Practical  demonstra- 
tions in  the  methods  and  manner  of  rendering  the  Service  Music, 
the  Choral  melodies  and  Choir  Music  would  be  of  inestimable 
value  to  all.  From  it  all  would  result  not  only  a  deeper  love  for 
our  Church,  her  Services,  her  Music;  not  only  enthusiastic  study 
and  earnest  effort  to  cultivate  this  great  field;  but  what  would  be 
of  equal  if  not  greater  importance,  a  definite,  concrete,  churchly 
style,  which,  determined  as  it  w^ould  be  by  the  most  careful  his- 
torical and  theoretical  principles,  would  be  normative  and  all-pow- 
erful in  controlling  the  future  development  of  our  Church  Music. 

Such  a  school  shotild  reach  and  aid  both  pastors  and  organ- 
ists. Pastors  must  sooner  or  later  come  to  realize  that  they  have 
not  discharged  their  full  duty  in  the  Public  Service  when  they 
have  prepared  and  delivered  a  sermon.  Organists  must  know  that 
their  work  is  infinitely  more  than  simply  the  making  of  music. 
The  minister  must  be  more  than  preacher  and  the  organist  more 
than  player.  The  work  of  Palestrina,  Orlando  de  Lasso,  Kccard, 
Praetorius,  Hassler,  Lossius,  Spangenberg,  Rigel,  Herzog,  Kade, 


THK  PROPOSED  SUMMER  SCHOOI.  FOR  CHURCH  MUSIC.  59 

Witt,  Singenberger  and  dozens  of  others  was  only  possible  be- 
cause they  added  to  thorough  musicianship  profound  liturgical 
understanding  and  feeling.  The  work  of  Gregory,  of  Luther,  of 
Helmore,  Schoeberlein  and  hosts  of  others  whose  influence  ha5 
been  immeasurable,  was  only  possible  because  true  musical 
appreciation  and  knowledge  was  combined  with  complete  theo- 
logical and  liturgical  training.  So  our  future  true  and  worthy 
development  in  the  field  of  Church  Music  will  only  be  possible 
when  both  pastors  and  organists  have  a  satisfactory  command  of 
the  principles  and  forms  of  both  the  departments  of  Liturgy  and 
Music. 

Such  a  school  would  necessarily  have  to  provide  for  those 
whose  opportunities  for  instruction  have  been  limited.  It  is  as 
important  for  us  to  control  and  elevate  the  standard  of  liturgical 
and  musical  life  in  our  smallest  parishes  as  it  is  to  promote  uni- 
formity and  clearness  of  Churchly  style  in  our  strongest  congre- 
gations and  institutions.  The  same  principles  of  churchliness 
and  propriety  should  rule  in  the  construction  of  the  modest  chap- 
el that  speak  in  the  lines  of  the  lofty  cathedral.  So  the  music  of 
our  small  churches  may  have  the  same  churchly  tone,  the  same 
dignity  and  beauty,  may  express  the  same  characteristics  within 
its  limited  sphere,  as  the  more  elaborate  Service  of  the  great  city 
congregation.  To  this  end  the  simplest  forms  of  our  Church 
Music  should  receive  careful  consideration,  and  the  effort  should 
be  made  to  reach  the  pastors  and  organists  of  the  smallest  con- 
gregations no  matter  how  limited  their  parish  resources.  Knowl- 
edge, liturgical  and  musical,  will  be  more  valuable  in  the  devel- 
opmxcnt  of  their  parish  Services  and  music  than  mere  money  or 
members. 

Musical  reform  is  only  possible  to  a  liturgical  Church.  Un- 
liturgical  denominations  can  never  hope  to  have  Church  Music  of 
any  real  character  or  permanence.  At  best  it  will  be  music  in 
the  Church,  vague  and  uncertain  in  character,  ever  changing  and 
reflecting  individual  vagaries  and  caprices;  often  absolutely  irrel- 
evant and  incongruous.  It  will  be  all  this  no  matter  how  finished 
it  may  be  artistically.  For  it  is  not  the  degree  but  the  kind  that 
is  at  fault.  Church  Music  in  the  numerous  sects  about  us  is  of 
very  necessity  a  species  of  religious  vaudeville.  Lacking  in 
liturgical  vertebrae  to  give  it  form  and  character  it  is  shapeless, 
purposeless,  meaningless.    The  principles  of  true  Art — unity, 


60 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


coherence,  definite  purpose — have  all  been  forsaken.  Bach  with 
his  fugues,  Handel  and  Mozart  and  their  theatrical  strains,  Mas- 
cagni  with  his  sensuous  melodies,  Wagner  and  Tschaikdwsky 
with  their  acrobatic  feats  of  musical  contortion,  diminished  and 
iaugmented  intervals  and  astonishing  harmonic  progressions, — are 
all  brought  forward  in  an  indiscriminate  effort  to  entertain  a  blase 
audience,  w^hich  has  little  interest  in  the  w^hole  performance  be- 
yond a  critical  estimate  of  the  technical  skill  of  organist  or  the 
tone  production  and  personal  peculiarities  of  individual  soloists. 
The  music  has  no  connection  with  the  Service.  Of  necessit}'  it 
but  rarel}"  comes  into  touch  with  the  fundamental  principles  of 
devotion  and  religious  feeling  which  should  determine  eveiything 
in  the  Service,  but  w^hich,  under  the  debasing  influence  of  a 
worldly  music,  are  too  soon  dissipated.  Conditions  with  us  are 
entirely  different.  The  principles  of  reverence,  of  devotion,  of 
worship,  of  organic  unity  and  completeness  in  every  Service, 
must  rule.  With  our  history,  our  traditions,  our  liturgical  and 
musical  treasures  and  our  latent  powers  and  abilities  there  should 
be  a  path  of  most  w^orthy  and  wonderful  achievement  before  us. 
There  is  much  land  to  be  possessed — but  let  us  not  be  faint-heart- 
ed, but  go  forth  in  faith  and  earnestness  and  it  shall  be  ours. 


BOY  CHOIRS. 


BY  THE  REV.  A.  I..  STEIMI.E. 


There  is  no  article  under  this  head  in  the  Lutheran  Cyclopedia. 
That  demonstrates  the  very  recent  interest  of  Lutherans  in 
America  in  this  subject.  A  superficial  observer  would  remark, 
perhaps,  that  in  this  matter  we  are  invading  the  exclusive  domain 
of  that  Communion,  whose  one  modest  service  in  New  York  City 
was  rudely  disturbed  by  Muhlenberg's  loud  preaching.  It  is  the 
purpose  of  this  paper  to  show  that  no  departure  from  Lutheran 
and  churchly  principles  is  involved  in  the  introduction  of  the 
Boy  Choir. 

The  Boy  Choir  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  for  it  has  come,  and 
come  to  stay,  is  another  evidence  of  the  firm  hold  that  distinctive- 
ness has  taken  upon  the  Lutheran  mind,  or  in  other  words,  it  is 
a  carrying  out  of  churchliness  in  the  rendering  of  the  music  of 
the  sanctuary. 

We  have  adopted  churchly  ideas  in  almost  every  other  re- 
spect. We  are  assembled  in  a  church,  which  under  the  wise 
guidance  of  its  energetic  pastor  has  secured  a  beautiful,  churchly 
interior,  that  announces  itself  at  once  as  distinctive  and  instruct- 
ive. The  exterior  has  not  yet  been  altered  and  a  glance  will 
show  us  that  it  dates  from  a  period  of  construction,  when  the 
Lutheran  consciousness  had  not  yet  asserted  itself  in  the  style  of 
architecture.  We  all  rejoice  in  the  fact  that  our  newer  church 
buildings  are  expressive  of  a  churchly  idea,  that  distinctiveness 
in  church  architecture  is  gaining  a  foothold  among  us,  and  though 
our  mode  of  worship,  and  scheme  of  congregational  activity  and 
ill  success  in  money-gathering  perhaps  forever  debar  us  from  ral- 

(Ixi) 


62 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


lying  around  a  center,  in  this  city,  or  in  any  other,  that  will  at 
all  compare  with  the  dizzy  heights  of  St.  Patrick's  on  Fifth  Ave- 
nue, or  the  cluster  of  chapels  out  of  which  will  ultimately  rise 
majestic  St,  John's  on  Morningside  Heights,  nevertheless  we  can 
and  do  point  with  satisfaction  to  the  many  church  buildings 
erected  in  the  metropolis  within  the  last  ten  years,  which  are, 
with  few  exceptions,  a  credit  to  us,  because  expressive  of  our 
Church's  devotional  spirit  in  their  very  exterior. 

The  Common  Service  has  unified  our  liturgical  aspirations. 
It  has  emphasized  our  historic  basis  and  devotional  life  and  the 
conservative  and  well-ordered  expression  of  our  piety.  It  satis- 
fies the  deep-rooted  desire  of  Lutherans  for  a  distinctive  Scriptur- 
al Service,  neither  permitting  the  minister's  personality  nor  his 
idiosyncrasies  to  encroach  upon  the  worshipper's  privilege  to  ap- 
proach God  in  a  devout  and  yet  beautiful  way,  his  very  petitions 
to  the  Throne  being  borne  by  words  and  phrases  hallowed  and 
sanctified  by  the  armies  of  the  ransomed  souls  of  many  centuries, 
who  have  prayed  them  and  chanted  them  and  warded  off  tempta- 
tion with  them  and  welcomed  eternal  glory  by  their  use. 

The  Boy  Choir  is  a  product  of  the  development  of  lyUtheran 
distinctiveness  exhibited  in  architecture  and  liturgy.  Distinctive 
Church  music  distinctively  rendered,  that  is  the  last  link  in  the 
chain  of  a  perfect  Church  Service. 

There  is  a  distinctive  Church  music.  Though  our  conscious- 
ness and  conscientiousness  in  this  matter  is  hardly  fully  devel- 
oped, we  do  recognize  that  our  Church  music  should  center  about 
the  solemn  Gregorian  plain-song  in  chant  and  versicle,  the  state- 
ly choral  in  congregational  hymn  and  the  majestic  fugue  in  choir 
anthem  and  organ  voluntary.  Preserving  the  liberty  essential  to 
all  art,  we  recognize  in  these  three  the  forms  of  music  which  ex- 
press devotion,  and  which  therefore  constitute  true  Church  mu- 
sic. The  Gloria  will  have  a  different  setting  from  the  Kyrie,  and 
the  Sanctus  from  the  Nunc  Dimittis,  and  the  latter  various  set- 
tings according  to  its  use  in  the  Communio  or  in  the  Vesper; 
there  must  be  the  satisfying  element  in  them  all  which  indicates 
peace  and  rest  and  worship. 

Nor  should  we  forget  that  the  Lutheran  Church  recognizes 
the  artistic  element  in  its  Service.  The  office  of  music  in  relig- 
ious worship  is  to  excite  devotion  as  well  as  to  express  it.  Bach's 
Passion  Music,  a  product  of  our  own  type  of  religious  life,  is 


BOY  CHOIRS. 


63 


written  for  trained  soloists  and  a  trained  chorus  as  well  as  the 
great  congregation. 

The  choir- anthem  might  be  called  the  expression  of  the  mu- 
sical ckarzsma,  the  congregation  offering  its  very  best  of  God- 
given  art  to  the  great  Giver.  It  is  perfectly  legitimate  for  the 
congregation  to  have  periods  of  silence,  when  the  choir  shall  ren- 
der selections  far  too  difficult  for  the  average  worshipper  to  act- 
ively unite  in,  but  tending  to  elevate  his  thoughts  and  leading 
his  devotions  Heavenward  to  the  Father  of  lights,  from  Whom 
Cometh  every  good  and  perfect  gift,  from  Whom  cometh  also  that 
most  delicate  of  instruments,  far  superior  to  all  man-made  music- 
al devices,  the  human  voice. 

There  is  a  distinctive  Church  instrument,  universally  adopted 
and  adapted  for  devotion's  aid — the  organ,  which  in  its  volume 
of  sound,  like  the  surging  sea,  suggests  the  endlessness  of  eter- 
nity. There  should  be  a  distinctive  Church  choir.  The  sanctu- 
ary, so  different  from  the  places  where  the  multitude  has  spent 
its  days  of  labor  with  and  for  material  things,  the  robed  minister, 
his  very  appearance  untouched  by  the  changing  modes  of  a  fitful 
world,  shall  they  and  their  influence  upon  the  worshipper  be  dis- 
turbed by  the  entrance  of  the  hired  singers,  whom  some  of  the 
attending  people — I  will  not  say  worshippers — recognize  as  the 
interpreters  of  opera  on  week-days  ?  That  extreme  will  probably 
be  rarely  met,  but  there  is  an  instance  on  record  where  a  member 
of  a  Church  quartette,  a  Roman  Catholic,  devoutly  attended  ear- 
ly mass,  every  Sunday  before  coming  to  the  Lutheran  Church 
and  taking  a  leading  part  in  its  worship. 

Nor  is  the  chorus  choir  of  mixed  voices  entirely  removed 
from  other  associations.  The  chorus  is  heard  in  concert  and  mu- 
sic-drama and  in  many  travesties  on  music  perpetrated  by  the 
theatre.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood,  and  therefore  I  ex- 
pressly state  that  there  is  no  condemnation  of  the  chorus  choir  as 
an  auxiliary  to  Divine  worship  in  my  thought,  but  I  would  show 
you  a  more  excellent  way. 

The  Boy  Choir  is  distinctively  a  Church  choir,  and  nothing 
else.  There  are  no  other  associations  connected  with  it.  It  ap- 
pears nowhere  else.  And  what  is  more,  the  boy's  voice  is  pecul- 
iarly adapted  to  produce  the  exact  results  in  the  devout  worship- 
per which  are  intended  by  the  distinctive  Church  music.  Though 
not  naturally  musical,  as  a  rule,  there  is  a  freshness  and  buoyan- 


64 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


cy  and  peculiar  loftiness  of  tone  in  the  boy's  voice,  that  alone  ex- 
plains why  congregations,  not  of  our  communion,  whose  unlim- 
ited resources  place  the  very  best  soloists  at  their  command,  have 
changed  from  quartette  and  chorus  choirs  to  Boy  Choirs,  and 
have  maintained  them  ever  since. 

The  exclusive  use  of  the  male  voice  in  the  Church  choir  has 
historical  precedent,  although  sometimes  based  on  false  and  un- 
scriptural  grounds.  The  great  Temple-choir,  composed  of  lyC- 
vites,  arrayed  in  white  linen,  a  vested  choir,  if  you  please,  was 
instituted  according  to  God's  command  and  perhaps  even  the  de- 
tail of  the  vestment  was  divinely  ordained.  In  the  Ancient  and 
Mediaeval  Church  the  early  appearance  of  asceticism  favored  the 
exclusion  of  women  from  the  prominent  places  in  the  sanctuary 
and  from  participation  in  services  which  would  require  entrance 
into  monasteries  and  other  abodes  of  men.  In  the  papal  chapel 
at  Rome  men  were  employed  in  the  choir,  even  singing  soprano 
with  falsetto  voice,  until  1625,  when  boys  were  introduced.  They 
were  eunuchs. 

In  I^utheran  Orders  we  meet  with  references  to  the  "school- 
children." So  e.  g.  Wiirtemberg  Agenda  of  1553:  "If  no  Com- 
munion be  held  the  school  shall  sing  the  Introit  in  I^atin."  In 
the  Coburg  Agenda  of  1626:  "After  the  ringing  of  the  bell,  the 
scholars  in  the  cities  shall  sing  '  Veni  Sancti  Spiritus,'  after  that, 
the  Introit."  Others  also  refer  to  the  ''Chor  fuer  die  Schueler 
und  den  Kantory^  In  this  country  I  have  seen,  in  German 
churches  that  had  preserved  the  various  features  of  their  Church- 
life  over  the  sea,  the  school  children  sitting  in  the  organ-loft  and 
leading  the  singing,  under  the  direction  of  the  schoolmaster.  In 
some  churches  which  had  no  organ,  the  music  was  furnished  with 
a  number  of  brass  instruments,  the  players  constituting  a  male 
chorus  and  regularly  singing  choir- anthems.  This  is  still  the 
case  in  some  churches  of  the  Missouri  and  Buffalo  Synods.  In 
St.  Johannis,  Philadelphia,  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Spaeth,  pastor,  the 
boys  of  the  parish  and  Sunday  Schools  have  been  frequently  em- 
ployed on  festival  occasions  to  intone  the  antiphons. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  pioneers  of  the  cause  of  the 
Boy  Choir  in  the  Episcopal  Church  faced  continual  opposition. 
Trinity  Episcopal  parish  in  New  York  was  organized  in  1697  ^^^^ 

*  '^Die  Kirchenordnung  der  ev.  luth.  Kirche  Deutschlands  in  ihrem  ersten 
Jahrkunderl.'^    Berlin,  1824. 


BOY  CHOIRS. 


65 


boys  were  used  to  lead  the  singing  as  early  as  1710.  They  were 
the  boys  of  the  Trinity  Charity  school  which  had  been  founded 
the  year  previous.  In  1776  both  church  and  school  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire  and  we  have  no  further  evidence  of  the  employ- 
ment of  boys  as  singers  until  1846,  when  the  present  Trinity 
church  building  was  erected.  From  this  time  on  boys  were  con- 
tinuously used,  first  in  connection  with  a  double  quartette  and 
mixed  chorus,  all  placed  in  the  organ  gallery  at  the  West  end. 
In  1859  the  feminine  element  was  dropped,  and  the  choir  was 
moved  from  the  gallery  to  the  seats  reserved  for  the  Sunday 
School  scholars,  between  the  congregation  and  the  clergy.  Here 
it  was  in  the  way,  and  then  it  was  moved  to  what  henceforth  was 
known  as  "the  choir"  of  the  church,  near  the  chancel-rail.  A 
year  later  the  choir  was  vested.  This  is  the  history  of  the  most 
famous  Boy  Choir  in  America.  Other  churches  (Episcopal)  em- 
ployed boys,  St.  Michael's,  Charleston,  S.  C,  in  1798;  Christ 
church,  Philadelphia,  1816,  Advent,  Boston,  1852.  A  Boy  Choir 
was  introduced  in  Appleton  chapel  of  Harvard  College  in  1892, 
to  render  the  service  for  the  daily  prayers  and  weekly  Vesper 
services.    Thus  we  have  a  Unitarian  Boy  Choir,  too. 

The  first  Lutheran  Boy  Choir,  so-called,  in  this  country,  if 
we  do  not  count  the  parish  scholars  in  some  German  churches  as 
such,  was  instituted  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  the  Church  of  the  Re- 
deemer, on  Palm  Sunday,  1885,  by  Dr.  T.  B.  Roth.  At  Albany, 
in  Rev.  Seegers'  charge,  a  Boy  Choir  was  staited  in  1888,  the 
Utica  choir  giving  an  object-leSvSon  to  the  newly  organized  Church 
of  the  Redeemer.  Mr.  Auteman  is  the  pioneer  in  the  latter 
church.  Since  then  various  churches  have  interested  themselves 
in  the  matter,  congregations  in  Brooklyn,  Rochester  and  Buffalo 
in  New  York  State  and  in  various  cities  in  Pennsylvania  recog- 
nizing the  value  and  churchliness  of  the  institution.  As  far  as  I 
am  aware,  not  one  of  the  congregations  that  has  tried  it,  has  ever 
given  it  up  again. 

A  Boy  Choir  should  be  robed.  The  distinctive  Church-choir 
ought  to  be  distinctively  dressed.  The  matter  of  vestments  for 
a  choir  is  perhaps  the  chief  difiiculty  with  which  we  have  to  deal 
in  this  connection.  The  most  simple  explanation  of  the  reason 
why  a  Boy  Choir  should  be  robed  is  the  story  of  the  introduction 
of  vestments  in  Trinity  church  choir  of  New  York,  referred  to 
above.    As  stated,  the  choir  occupied  the  prominent  seats  near 


66 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


the  chancel,  and  even  choir  vestments  had  been  presented  by  a 
generous  parishioner.  But  the  vestry  was  obdurate  and  the  vest- 
ments were  packed  away.  Dr.  Cutler,  the  organist,  had  set  his 
heart  upon  it  however,  and  his  opportunity  came  with  the  visit 
of  the  Prince  of  Wales  to  New  York  in  the  fall  of  i860.  He  was 
to  be  in  the  city  from  the  eleventh  to  the  fifteenth  of  October. 
The  fourteenth  was  a  Sunday.  Dr.  Cutler  at  once  consulted  the 
proper  authorities  and  argued  for  the  use  of  the  vestments  while 
the  Prince  attended  service.  It  would  disturb  his  sense  of  pro- 
priety to  see  the  assorted  and  variegated  clothes  of  the  choir  boys 
in  front  of  him,  being  accustomed  to  the  decorous  and  churchly 
w^aj^s  of  England.  The  argument  won  the  day.  The  Prince 
must  have  a  good  impression — and  vestments  were  ever  after 
worn  by  Trinity  choir.  St.  Michael's  choir  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
was  vested  in  1798.  The  first  vested  choir  in  the  North  was  in- 
troduced by  Dr.  Hawkes  in  St.  Thomas  Hall,  Flushing,  L.  I.,  in 
1 84 1.  On  this  account  he  was  afterward  defeated  in  the  election 
for  bishop  of  Mississippi.  A  short  time  after  a  Rev.  Mr.  Tate 
endeavored  to  establish  a  vested  choir  in  Columbus,  O.,  and  the 
result  was  that  he  was  driven  from  the  State  and  threatened  with 
deposition  from  the  ministry.  Times  have  changed  in  the  Epis- 
copal Church. 

The  beauty,  utility  and  churchliness  of  a  vested  choir  cannot 
be  denied.  Actual  experience  with  a  Boy  Choir  without  them 
has  taught  me  the  desirability  of  vestments.  They  are  exceed- 
ingly useful  w^hen  the  choir  is  placed  in  the  front  of  the  church, 
where  it  ought  to  be,  and  thus  comes  into  full  view^  of  the  people. 
They  level  the  distinction  betw^een  rich  and  poor,  they  hide  what 
might  be  unbecoming  in  a  place  of  prominence  in  the  house  of 
God,  they  teach  reverence  for  the  sanctuary  and  help  to  cultivate 
the  aesthetic  taste  of  choir  and  congregation. 

Kliefoth  in  discussing  the  principles  governing  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  the  retention  of  the  Church  Year  and  its  Festival  and 
Saints  days,  speaks  of  her  consciousness  of  being  one  with  the 
hoping  Church  before  Christ  and  the  triumphant  Church  of 
saints  and  angels  in  Heaven,  and  states  that  "the  Lutheran 
Church  (Gemeinde)  endeavored  not  only  to  journey  toward  the 
latter,  but  in  its  ver^^  Services  to  be  a  type  and  representation  of 
it."  Therefore  St.  John  the  Baptist's  Day  was  retained,  repre- 
senting the  hoping  Church,  and  St.  Michael's  Day,  representing 


BOY  CHOIRS. 


67 


the  congregation  of  saints  and  angels  in  Heaven.  This  idea,  of 
the  views  of  the  struggling  Church  on  earth  with  the  hoping 
Church  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  triumphant  Church  in  glo- 
ry, is  most  beautifully  carried  out  in  our  Chief  Service.  In  the 
words  of  Dr.  Seiss:  ''How  sublimely  the  worshipping  soul  soars 
away  to  the  feet  of  Deity  in  that  grand  old  morning  hymn,  the 
Gloria  in  Excelsis!  Yet  it  was  first  sung,  in  its  grandest  part  by 
the  angels,  and  from  their  lips  the  Church  has  transferred  it  to 
her  own.  How  are  our  hearts  uplifted  for  that  holiest  of  eucha- 
ristic  feasts,  by  the  grand  Communion  Canticle:  'Holy,  holy,  ho- 
ly, lyord  God  of  Sabaoth!'  Yet  these  words,  by  which  we  join 
*with  angels  and  archangels,  and  with  the  whole  company  of 
Heaven,'  to  'laud  and  magnify'  Jehovah's  name,  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  the  six-winged  Seraphim  whom  Isaiah  heard  trilling 
their  Trisagioji  in  the  celestial  temple  till  the  door-posts  moved." 
Thus  we  also  use  the  Psalms  in  the  Vesper  Service,  though  ad- 
ding, as  Christians,  the  Gloria  Patri. 

The  struggling  Church,  then,  robes  her  choir,  even  as  the 
choir  of  the  hoping  Church  was  arrayed  in  fine  white  linen  (II 
Chron.  5:12)  and  the  triumphant  hosts  of  Heaven,  singing  be- 
fore the  Lamb,  are  clothed  with  white  robes  (Rev.  7:9;  chapter 
19) — the  Church  in  completion,  the  type  and  picture  of  which  is 
to  be  found  in  our  earthly  Service.  That  which  practical  neces- 
vsity  stamps  as  useful  is  thus  the  means  to  incite  devotion  and 
emphasizes  to  the  believer's  thought  the  unity  of  the  whole 
Church  of  Christ.  And  if  the  choir  be  held  to  represent  the 
Church  Universal  in  the  local  congregation,  this  idea  suffers  no 
loss  in  having  the  choir  robed. 

The  nature  of  the  vestments  is  hinted  at  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  passages  quoted  above.  The  early  Christian  Church 
followed  the  precedent  of  the  Levites  and  robed  its  singers  in 
white.  The  Council  of  Laodicea,  A.  D.  361,  passed  two  canons 
concerning  habits,  which  presuppose  singers  vested  in  white. 
The  bishops  of  Constantinople  and  the  higher  order  of  clergy 
definitely  assumed  the  black  robe  in  the  fourth  century.  From 
the  sub-deacons  on  down  the  scale  of  what  was  rapidly  coming  to 
be  considered  the  lower  order  of  clergy,  and  which  included  the 
singers,  the  white  surplice  or  alb  was  worn.  More  than  once  we 
read  in  the  Church  fathers  of  this  period,  of  the  "bright  and 
shining  garments."    The  fourth  Council  of  Carthage  (399)  men- 


68 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


tions  the  alba.  So  does  Marbonne  (589).  There  is  also  Luther- 
an authority  for  the  retention  of  white  vestments.  The  *'Chor- 
hemd"  was  forbidden  in  Prussia  in  1737  by  King  Frederick 
William  I  and  permitted  again  by  Frederick  II  in  1740,  on  the 
fourth  of  July — an  ecclesiastical  day  of  independence.  This 
shows  its  wide  use  and  an  evident  strong  desire  for  its  retention, 
the  royal  prohibition  lasting  less  than  three  years.  A  writer  of 
the  eighteenth  century  mentions  the  alba  as  being  used  at  a 
church  service  in  Saxony,  as  well  as  the  loud  ringing  of  a  bell 
after  the  elements  were  consecrated.*  Even  Wiirtemberg,  not 
usually  a  field  for  liturgical  or  churchly  authority  has  retained 
the  alba  for  sacramental  occasions.  It  is  also  used  by  Dr.  Spaeth, 
In  Sweden  and  Norway  and  among  their  representatives  in  this 
country,  the  white  robe  figures  in  important  ecclesiastical  func- 
tions. 

The  vested  choir  ought  to  be  seated  in  the  front  of  the 
church.  The  Ancient  Church,  when  the  organ  was  still  un- 
known, placed  its  singers  on  the  ambo,  the  platform  or  elevation 
where  the  reading-desk  was.  The  Council  of  Laodicea  mentions 
this  as  a  familiar  practice.  The  Mediaeval  Church  left  its  testi- 
mony in  this  matter  in  the  name  'choir'  as  applied  to  a  portion  of 
the  church  edifice  near  the  altar.  The  function  of  leading  con- 
gregational song  can  be  better  carried  out  and  the  boys  kept  un- 
der better  control,  if  the  choir  sits  in  its  proper  place. 

The  entrance  of  the  choir,  the  processional,  still  remains  to 
be  considered.  Religious  processions  were  customary  among 
Greeks  and  Romans  and  even  the  Old  Testament  contains  allu- 
sions to  them  (Josh,  vi,  Neh.  xii,  etc.).  David  brought  up  the 
ark  with  two  Choral  Processional  Services,  the  first  of  which  was 
interrupted  on  account  of  a  ritual  irregularity.  We  are  told  that 
among  the  Jews  processions  around  the  altar  were  usual  in  the 
feast  of  tabernacles. 

In  the  Christian  Church  Chrysostom  introduced  processions 
as  an  antidote  to  the  Arians  who  went  to  their  meetings  at  night, 
singing  hymns.  Processions  at  funeral  occasions  are  of  great  an- 
tiquity. At  an  early  age  the  Litany  processions  came  into  vogue, 
in  which  crosses  were  carried.  The  Litany  Prayer  was  the  pro- 
cessional prayer  of  the  Church.  Litanies  were  sung  in  mediaeval 
times,  the  choir  and  clergy  marching  around  various  parts  of  the 
*  Gerber,  1732. 


BOY  CHOIRS. 


69 


great  cathedral  in  order  to  get  into  nearer  reach  of  each  worship- 
per. Litanies  were  sung  about  the  streets  of  a  city  in  times  of 
pestilence,  when  it  was  impossible  for  the  people  to  come  to 
church.  Episcopal  writers  trace  the  processions  of  their  church 
to  the  lyitany  processions  of  ancient  times.  In  I^utheran  Agenda 
we  also  find  references  to  processions.  Palm  Sunday  shall  be  cel- 
ebrated "mit  Procession  und  Gesengen."*  At  Christmas  Matins 
"a  number  of  boys,  robed  like  angels  and  carrying  tapers,  shall 
proceed,  two  by  two,  down  the  main  aisle  to  the  altar. "f 

The  Lutheran  Church  of  the  present  day,  in  our  country 
practices  the  procession  at  Sunday  School  celebrations,  Confirma- 
tion services.  Church  consecrations  and  similar  occasions. 

There  is  no  thought  of  ritualism  about  the  entrance  of  a  Lu- 
theran vested  choir.  It  is  the  most  simple  and  orderly  way  for 
the  choir  to  proceed  to  its  place.  In  England  the  custom  of 
"singing  themselves  into  their  seats"  is  quite  unknown,  the  chor- 
isters merely  marching  in  and  taking  their  seats  during  the  organ 
prelude.  With  us  it  is  the  opening  hymn,  sung  by  choir  and 
congregation,  during  which  the  choir  takes  its  place.  When  the 
choir  is  composed  of  boys,  this  will  be  found  to  be  by  far  the 
easiest  and  most  decorous  way  of  obviating  the  tendency  of  many 
choirs  and  many  congregations  to  disturb  the  devout  worshipper 
by  engaging  in  conversation  before  the  beginning  of  the  Service. 
There  is  an  aesthetic  element  in  it,  too,  which  S.  B.  Whitney  de- 
scribes: "It  is  a  beautiful  thing  to  see  as  well  as  to  hear  a  well- 
trained  choir  singing  the  processional  hymn  as  it  goes  marching 
up  through  the  midst  of  the  congregation  followed  by  the  clergy 
and  headed  by  the  cross,  illustrating  as  it  does  the  march  of 
Christianity  through  the  world  and  coming  more  in  touch  with 
the  great  body  of  worshippers. ' ' 

Is  the  Boy  Choir  practicable?  Mr.  Krehbiel,  the  musical 
critic,  has  said  that  "no  choir  is  so  poor  as  a  poor  boy  choir  and 
no  choir  so  costly  in  money  and  care  as  a  good  boy  choir."  He 
also  states  (in  Harper's,  1888)  that  in  the  Episcopal  choirs  the 
number  of  those  who  are  "sons  of  Episcopal  communicants  are 
scarcely  worth  mentioning.  German  boys  are  much  sought  af- 
ter." Thus  an  outsider  has  to  tell  us  of  the  wealth  of  our  ma- 
terial in  this  direction.    It  is  not  less  true  of  Scandinavian  boys, 

*  Mark  Brandenburg,  1540. 
t  Agenda  Ruthenica,  1766. 


70 


ESSAYS  OX  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


as  the  writer  became  aware  in  his  Western  ministr}^  It  ought 
not  to  be  so  difl&cult,  then,  for  us  to  keep  our  own  boys  and  to 
give  them  that  musical  and  churchly  training  that  will  make 
them  valuable  factors  in  the  Ser^'ice,  and  the  life  of  the  congre- 
gation when  they  grow  up.  Especially  in  our  English  Lutheran 
churches,  where  parish  schools  do  not  exist,  it  creates  a  bond  of 
affection  for  the  Church  among  the  boj^s,  that  is  indeed  invalua- 
ble. The  parents  are  interested,  there  is  a  diffusion  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  churchliness  and  of  the  Church  Year,  that  is  as  gratif^nng 
as  it  is  surprising.  And  the  music  is  not  too  difficult.  The 
range  of  a  bo^-'s  voice  is  very  large.  And  the  Plain  Song  so  much 
loved  of  us  finds  its  very  best  interpreters  in  boys,  and  even  the 
artistic  element  can  be  retained  according  to  the  abilities  of  or- 
ganist and  choir.  The  chief  difficulty  with  a  Boy  Choir  is  its 
want  of  permanence.  There  must  be  a  constant  lookout  for  new 
material,  as  boys'  voices  change  and  they  are  compelled  to  drop 
out.  Organists  and  choir-masters  will  be  compelled  to  study  the 
subject  of  the  cultivation  of  a  boy's  voice  very  carefully.  It  is 
no  bed  of  roses  for  the  instructor.  But  the  advantages  to  boys 
and  congregation  far  outweigh  all  disadvantages.  A  vested  Boy 
Choir,  if  properly-  trained  and  conducted,  will  be  an  inspiration 
to  all  concerned.  But  more  important  will  be — and  this  pertains 
to  any  choir — that  the  singers  msiy  bring  to  a  realization  in  their 
daily  life  the  beautiful  sentiment  which  the  foin-th  Cormcil  of 
Carthage  decreed  should  be  the  form  of  admittance  to  the  choir: 
"See  that  what  thou  singest  with  thy  mouth  thou  believest  also 
with  thy  heart;  and  that  what  thou  believest  in  thy  heart,  thou 
confirmest  in  thy  life." 


EARIvY  IvUTHKRAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


BY  THE  RKV.   PROF.  A.  SPAETH,  D.  D.,   LL.  D. 


On  former  occasions  we  have  repeatedly  called  attention  to  the 
three  distinct  elements  of  pure  Church  Music,  the  Gregorian,  in 
the  responses  of  the  Service  proper,  representing  chiefly  the 
Recitative,  the  popular  Choral,  for  congregational  singing,  repre- 
senting chiefly  the  Melodic;  and  the  artistic  settings,  polyphonic 
and  figurated,  representing  chiefly  the  Harmonic.  The  latter  is, 
in  a  special  sense  the  domain  of  the  early  Choir  Music  of  the 
Lutheran  Church, 

The  Lutheran  Reformation  proved  its  conservative  character 
in  retaining  whatever  was  pure  not  only  in  the  structure  of  its 
Service  but  also  in  its  forms  of  musical  expression.  One  element, 
however,  was  new  and  peculiar  to  the  Service  and  the  music  of 
the  Lutheran  Reformation,  the  introduction  of  the  popular  hymns 
and  tunes  of  the  congregation,  the  "Choral."  And  it  was  this 
element  that  furnished  the  principal  material,  and  determined  the 
character  of  the  artistic  Choir  Music  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  A  new  spiritual  life 
was  infused  into  the  art  of  contrapuntal  writing  which  flourished 
at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Here  the  masters  found  the  most  beautiful  and  sug- 
gestive themes  to  be  harmonized,  elaborated,  enlarged  and  devel- 
oped in  their  artistic  settings.  To  appreciate  and  understand  the 
character  of  early  Lutheran  Choir  Music  we  must  appreciate  and 
understand  the  Choral  itself. 

It  might  be  said  that  even  in  the  Choral  tunes  there  was  a 
combination  of  Pre-Reformation  music  and  of  the  new  popular 

(Ixxi) 


72 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC, 


element  introduced  b}'  the  Reformation.  Out  of  the  old  Gregori- 
an Cantus  Firmus  the  people  had  adapted  certain  tunes,  cast 
them  into  the  form  of  hymns,  found  texts  for  them  in  their  na- 
tive tongue,  and  gradually  forced  their  toleration  upon  the 
Church  even  in  the  ser^'ice  of  the  Roman  Mass.  But  grand  and 
beautiful  as  these  tunes  were  they  do  not  yet  represent  the  full 
true  "Geistliche  Volkslied,"  the  Church  hymn  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. This  was  possible  onh^  as  the  result  of  the  restoration  of 
the  pure  Gospel,  justification  by  faith,  God's  free  grace  through 
Jesus  Christ,  the  onty  Mediator  and  Saviour,  the  filial  spirit  of 
adoption  with  its  peace  and  joy,  its  confidence  and  trust,  its  evan- 
gelical freedom.  Here  is  the  true  fountain  head  of  the  Choral  of 
the  Evangelical  Church, — the  "New  Song,"  which  the  Lord 
Himself  had  put  into  the  mouth  of  His  people. 

We  have,  then,  two  principal  sources  of  the  Choral  tunes  of 
the  Reformation  Church,  First,  the  ancient  and  mediaeval  Church 
Song,  Ambrosian  and  Gregorian,  and  Second,  the  German  popu- 
lar song  of  the  centuries  preceding  the  Reformation,  (12th  to 
1 6th).  To  the  former  belong  the  following  tunes:  A.) — From 
Ambrosia7i  sources:  Te  Deum,  (Endlich  I,  No.  135.  Schober- 
lein  I,  361).  Veni  Redeviptor  Gentium^  (Schoberlein  II,  14. 
Zahn,  Melodieen  der  Deutschen  Evang.  Kirchenlieder,  No.  307). 
Based  on  this  tune.  Nun  Komm  Der  Heiden  Heiland,  (Zahn  No, 
1 1 74,  also  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  Church  Book  with  Music,  No, 
118,  278).  Erhalt  uns,  Herr,  bei  Deinem  Wort,  (Endlich  II,  74, 
Ch.  B.  188,  316).  Verleih  uns  Frieden  gnaediglich,  (Endlich 
II,  206.  Ch.  B.  174a).  Christ,  Der  Du  bist  der  helle  Tag. 
(Endlich  II,  196).  B.) — From  Gi'cgorian  sources:  Allein  Gott 
in  der  Hoeh  sei  Ehr  (Endlich  II,  176.  Ch.  B.  9).  O  Lamm 
Gottes  unschuldig,  (Endlich  II,  176).  Jesaja,  dem  Propheten 
das  geschah,  (Endlich,  II,  173). — From  the  later  Latin  Church 
Song  of  the  Middle  Ages;  Media  m  vita,  (Endlich  II,  208).  Veni 
Sancte  Spij^itiis,  (Endlich  II,  51).  Christ  ist  erstanden,  from  the 
Sequens  VictimcE  Paschalis,  (Endlich  II,  38,  comp.  Ch.  B, 
192  a). 

A  certain  middle  ground  between  ancient  Church  Song  and 
Popular  Song  is  occupied  b}^  the  following  tunes  which,  from  the 
beginning,  were  sung  to  German  words:  Nun  bitten  wir  den 
Heiligen  Geist,  (Endlich  II,  50).  Gelobet  seist  Du,  Jesu  Christ, 
(Endlich  II,  12).    Dies  sind  die  heiligen  zehn  Gebot,  (Endlich 


^:ARI,Y  I.UTHKRAN  CHOrR.  MUSIC, 


73 


II,  79).  Wir  glauben  all  an  Einen  Gott,  (Kndlich  II,  97).  Gott 
der  Vater  wohn  uns  bei,  (Endlich  II,  167).  Ks  ist  das  Heil  uns 
kommen  her,  (Kndlich  II,  98,  Ch.  B,  10).  In  Dich  hab  ich 
gehoffet,  Herr,  (Endlich  II,  170). 

But  the  richest  storehouse  of  the  German  Choral  to  which, 
up  to  the  year  1570,  most  of  the  popular  tunes  must  be  ascribed, 
is  the  secular  folks'  song  of  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  century, 
that  artless  art  ,  ,  ,  characterized  by  the  beauty  of  innocence, 
which  does  not  know  itself,  and  its  own  precious  value." 
( Vischer) .  Only  since  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century  w^ere  added  to  these  songs  some 
original  tunes,  written  by  Masters  of  Church  Music  first  for  ar- 
tistic singing  of  the  Choir,  and  later  on,  directl}^  for  congrega- 
tional singing. 

Now  the  Choral  itself  found  its  way  into  the  congregation 
mostly  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Choir.  The  tunes 
were  first  set  in  more  or  less  artistic  style,  for  four,  five,  six,  and 
even  eight  part  singing,  and  only  by  a  gradual  process  they  were 
presented  in  simpler  forms  so  that  the  congregation  itself  could 
take  part  in  the  singing. 

The  earliest  document  containing  artistic  settings  for  the 
Lutheran  choirs  is  the  little  Choir  Book  by  John  Walther,  the 
first  ''Cantor"  of  the  Lutheran  Church  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
It  appeared  under  the  title  "'Das  Wittcnbergisch  Gesajigbuechlein'''' 
in  1524.  Recently  it  has  been  republished  by  Otto  Kade,  as  Vol- 
ume VII  of  the  publications  of  the  Society  for  Musical  Research, 
(Gesellschaft  fuer  Musikforschung).  Zahn  gives  a  description 
of  the  original  editions  of  1524,  1537,  1544,  1551,  in  his  "Melo- 
dieen  der  Deutschen  Evangelischen  Kirchenlieder,"  Vol.  VI.  2, 
16,  25,  31.  The  book  was  printed  in  five  sections,  containing, 
respectively,  the  Discantus,  Altus,  Tenor,  Bassus,  Vagans.  The 
Choral  is  treated  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as  the  vocal  music 
of  the  Catholic  Church  song  treated  the  Cantus  Firmus  in  those 
days.  As  a  rule,  the  tune  is  given  to  the  Tenor,  the  other  voices 
being  woven  around  it  according  to  the  rules  of  elaborate  counter- 
point. 

John  Wai^ther,  Luther's  intimate  friend  and  faithful  co- 
worker in  the  musical  arrangement  of  the  early  Reformation 
Service,  (German  Mass  of  1526)  was  born  in  the  year  1496  in  a 
village  of  Thuringia,  near  Cola  (Kahla?).    Little  is  known  about 


74 


ESSAYS  OX  CHURCH  MrSIC. 


his  earh'  years.  He  probabh'  received  a  musical  training  as  one 
of  the  choir  boys  in  Torgau,  under  Conrad  Rupff.  There  we 
find  him  a.  1524  as  "Bassist"  and  "Componist/'  the  latter  posi- 
tion being  next  to  the  leader  himself.  Luther  called  him  to  Wit- 
tenberg to  assist  him  in  the  musical  setting  of  his  German  Mass, 
first  rendered  October  29,  1525,  The  danger  of  having  the  Tor- 
gau Choir  dissolved  after  the  death  of  Elector  Frederic  was  for- 
tunately averted  through  the  influence  of  Luther  and  Melanch- 
thon,  and  Walther  was  now  promoted  to  the  position  of  Director. 
Nevertheless,  a  few  years  later,  in  1530,  the  "Kantorei"  was, 
after  all,  dissolved,  to  Luther's  great  disgust,  ''to  save  3000 
florins,"  as  he  complained,  "while  for  other  imnecessary  things 
30,000  were  recklessly  thrown  away."  The  citizens  of  Torgau, 
however,  volunteered  to  form  a  private  "  Kantorei- Gessellschaft" 
(Singing  Societ}")  which  was  quite  prosperous  under  the  able 
leadership  of  John  Walther,  In  1548  Walther  became  musical 
Director  in  Dresden.  He  filled  that  office  to  the  year  1554,  when 
Matth.  Le  Maistre  succeeded  him.  The  rest  of  his  life  was  spent 
at  Torgau,  where  he  died  a.  1570  at  the  age  of  74  j'ears. 

He  also  wrote  a  Passion  Music  for  Palm  Sunday',  based  on 
the  Gospel  according  to  St,  Matthew,  and  one  for  Good  Friday-, 
based  upon  St.  John.  Both  have  been  used  in  the  Lutheran 
Cantionales  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  including 
Keuchenthal,  1573  and  Ludecus,  1589.  Walther  is  duh'  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  founders  of  Lutheran  Choir- Music,  and 
justl}'  holds  a  prominent  place  in  the  illustrious  line  of  our 
Church  musicians,  even  if  he  should  not  have  invented  the  glori- 
ous tune  of  "Ein  feste  Burg,"  which  Kade  ascribes  to  him. 

Half  a  dozen  of  his  settings  are  accessible  to  us  in  Schober- 
lein,  Schatz  des  liturgischen  Chor-und  Gemeinde-Gesangs: 

Christ  lag  in  Todesbanden,  ii,  355  a.  (Melod}' in  Soprano) .  % 
Jesus  Christus  unser  Heiland,  ii,  357  a.  (Dto.) 
Wohlauf,  wohlauf  mit  lauter  Stimm,  ii,  568  i^Cantus  in 
Tenor). 

Es  woll  uns  Gott  genaedig  sein,  ii,  610.  (Mel.  in  Sopr.) 
Mein  Eltern  mich  verlassen  han,  iii,  358.    (Cantus  in 
Tenor.) 

Der  Tag  vertreibt  die  finstre  Xacht,  iii,  456.  (Mel.  in  Sopr.) 
Probably  not  one  of  the  above  mentioned  tunes  belongs  orig- 
inally to  Walther  himself.    It  was  a  time  not  of  original  produc- 


BARLY  I.UTHKRAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


75 


tion,  but  of  revising,  collecting,  adapting  and  reconstructing  the 
musical  material  found  in  Pre-Reformation  Church  Song  and  in 
the  popular  tunes  which  were  being  transferred  into  Church  use. 
As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  stated  that,  in  those  days,  the  names 
of  musicians  inscribed  on  the  different  settings  do  not  mark  the 
original  author  of  the  tune,  but  the  man  who  harmonized  it,  the 
"Symphonetes,"  not  the  "Phonascus." 

There  has  been  a  good  deal  of  dispute  concerning  the  char- 
acter and  intention  of  Walther's  musical  work,  whether  his  com- 
positions and  settings  were  intended  for  congregational  singing 
or  for  the  choir  exclusively.  Prominent  authorities  like  Kade 
and  Winterfeld,  hold  that  Walther's  settings  were  intended  for 
a  combined  rendering  by  choir  and  congregation.  But  the  fact 
that  the  melody  is  mostly  given  to  the  Tenor  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  congregation  was  not  yet  expected  to  take  an  active  part 
in  the  rendering  of  these  compositions,  but  that  they  were  chiefly 
intended  for  choir  singing,  as  Zahn  also  contends. 

This  same  controversy  extends  in  fact  to  all  the  musical  set- 
tings of  the  Reformation  era,  down  to  near  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  Koch,  Geschichte  des  Kirchenlieds  und  Kirchen- 
gesangs,  i,  475,  asserts  that  the  Cantus  Firmits,  or  melody,  was 
sung  in  unison  by  the  congregation,  while  the  choir  accompanied 
it  with  its  harmonies  in  four,  five  or  even  more  parts.  "Thus 
the  dignity  of  the  ancient  Plain  song  was  blending  with  the 
beauty  of  new  full  harmonies.  True,  in  this  first  period,  the 
melody,  or  Cantus  Firmits,  was  given  to  the  Tenor,  while  the 
other  voices  surrounded  it  in  figurated  settings,  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  counterpoint.  Thus  the  composer  or  harmonizer  hid 
the  melody  under  his  artistic  figurated  setting  so  that  it  was  al- 
most lost  to  the  hearer."  The  question  naturally  presents  itself 
whether,  with  such  an  arrangement,  it  was  at  all  possible  that 
the  congregation  should  join  in  the  rendering  of  such  composi- 
tions, or  whether  these  were  not  rather  a  kind  of  motettos,  and 
not  the  popular  choral,  as  we  understand  and  use  it.  Luther 
certainly,  in  his  well  known  praise  of  the  art  of  music,  (Witten- 
berg 1538)  seems  to  have  in  his  mind  the  artistic  Motette,  with 
its  figurated  setting,  when  he  says:  "Where  natural  music  is 
sharpened  and  polished  by  art  there  we  begin  to  recognize,  with 
praise  and  admiration,  the  great  and  perfect  wisdom  of  God  in 
His  wonderful  gift  of  music.    Here  it  seems  so  strange  and  as- 


76 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


tonishing  that  one  sings  the  simple  melody  or  tenor  (yCantus 
Firmus).  But  along  with  it  three,  four  or  five  other  voices  are 
also  sung,  playing  around  that  tenor  in  jubilant  strains  and 
adorning  that  melody  in  various  ways  and  sounds,  performing  a 
sort  of  heavenly  dance,  lovingly  meeting,  caressing  and  embracing 
each  other  .  .  .  Whosoever  is  not  deeply  moved  by  such  a  work 
of  art  must  indeed  be  a  coarse  clod,  unworthy  to  hear  such  love- 
1}^  music." 

Koch  admits,  however,  that  it  would  have  required  a  most 
extraordinary  musical  training  of  the  people  to  join  with  the 
choir  in  such  music,  and  thinks  that  only  in  towns  and  high 
schools  such  a  thing  was  possible. 

It  is  evident  that  with  such  an  artistic  treatment  the  Choral 
of  the  Evangelical  L^utheran  Church  was  not  very  well  adapted 
for  congregational  singing,  and  that  a  simpler,  less  polyphonous 
and  more  harmonistic  treatment,  with  greater  prominence  given 
to  the  melody,  was  needed  to  make  the  choral  truly  and  fully  the 
property  of  the  congregation.  The  decisive  change  in  this  direc- 
tion is  generally  ascribed  to  I^UCAS  Osiandkr,  court  preacher  in 
Stuttgart,  in  his  ''Fuenfzig  Geistliche  Lieder  und  Psalmen.  Mit 
vier  Stimmen  contrapunctweise  fuer  die  Schulen  und  Kirchen  im 
Fuerstentum  Wiirttemberg  also  gesetzt,  dass  eine  ganze  christ- 
liche  Gemein  durchaus  mitsingen  kann.  Niirnberg  1586."  In 
the  preface  he  says:  "There  are  many  excellent  spiritual  songs 
arranged  for  part  singing.  But  even  when  the  melody  and  text 
are  understood  a  layman  who  knows  nothing  of  figurated  music 
cannot  possibly  join  in  the  singing.  He  has  only  to  listen.  I 
have  therefore,  for  some  time,  been  considering  how  such  a  music 
could  be  arranged  for  a  Christian  congregation  in  which  four 
parts  should  go  together  and  yet  every  Christian  would  be  able 
to  join  in  the  singing.  For  this  reason  I  have,  as  a  specimen, 
arranged  these  fifty  songs  and  psalms  in  four  parts  so  that  the 
whole  congregation,  even  the  little  children,  could  join  in  the 
singing,  feeling  confident  that  by  this  modest  effort  the  general 
singing  in  the  church  would  not  only  not  be  hindered,  but  that 
well  meaning  Christians  would  thereby  all  the  more  be  stirred  up 
by  such  lovely  tunes  to  sing  their  psalms.  I  am  well  aware  that 
the  composers  usually  carry  the  choral  in  the  Tenor.  But,  wher- 
ever this  is  done,  the  choral  cannot  be  recognized  among  the 
other  voices.    The  common  people  do  not  know  which  psalm  it 


BARI.Y  I^UTHBRAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


77 


is  and  are  excluded  from  singing.  I  therefore  put  the  choral  in 
the  Discant  so  that  it  might  be  readily  known  and  every  layman 
be  able  to  join."  Osiander's  aim  then  was  a  purely  practical  one. 
The  melody  sung  by  the  congregation  was  to-be  the  main  thing. 
The  harmony,  represented  in  the  voices  of  the  choir,  was  to  be 
simply  an  accompaniment,  doing  in  fact  what  our  organs  do  at 
the  present  day  (but  did  not  in  those  days)  viz.,  furnish  a  suita- 
ble running  harmony  {nota  co7itra  notain)  for  the  unison  singing 
of  the  congregation.  To  this  practical  consideration  the  finer 
artistic,  figurated  setting  of  the  choral  tunes  was  sacrificed. 

Schoberlein  has  the  following  numbers  from  lyucas  Osiander: 
Frohlich  wollen  wir  Hallelujah  sin  gen.    I,  143. 
Ve7ii  Redemptor  Gentimn.    II,  14  a. 
Der  Thoricht  spricht:  Es  ist  kein  Gott.    Ill,  228. 
O  Herr,  wer  wird  sein  Wohnung  han.    Ill,  330. 

Whatever  the  influence  of  this  arrangement  of  Osiander's 
may  have  been,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  not  altogeth- 
er a  new  departure.  Long  before  his  time  when  the  polyphonous 
style  ruled  supreme  in  Church  music,  there  are  instances,  when 
the  melody  was  given  to  the  Soprano.  So  in  Heinrich  Isaac's 
famous  "O  Welt,  ich  muss  dich  lassen,"  (so  beautifully  rendered 
by  our  friends  of  the  Leipzig  Quartet),  also  in  Goudimel's  Psalms, 
and  sometimes  even  in  John  Walther's  settings.  But  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  century  Osiander's  advice  and  example  was  pretty 
generally  followed  by  the  most  prominent  composers  who  pro- 
fessed themselves  anxious,  as  it  was  stated  in  the  "Melodeyeu- 
bucli  ....  durch  Hieron.  Prsetorius,  Joachim  Decker,  J. 
Prsetorius  u.,  David  Scheidemann,  Hamburg."  1604:  "That 
every  Christian  should  cheerfully  and  loudly  raise  his  plain  lay- 
man's voice,  and  no  longer  as  a  fifth  wheel,  but  as  a  regular 
fourth  wheel  vigorously  pull  the  Music  wagon  of  praise  and 
thanksgiving  to  the  name  of  the  Lord," 

Among  the  most  prominent  composers  of  this  class  we  men- 
tion in  particular  the  following: 

Seth  Calvisius,  born  1556  in  Thuringia,  in  1594  Cantor  of 
St.  Thomas  Church  in  Leipzig,  died  16 15.  He  was  famous  also 
as  an  astronomer  and  mathematician,  (See:  Opus  Chronologictan 
S.  Scriptures  ad  notum  luminarium  ccelestium  co7itextuni.  1605) 
so  that  he  received  calls  to  various  universities.  He  was  a  prom- 
inent writer  on  the  theory  of  music,  especially  the  rules  and  prin- 


78 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


ciples  underlying  the  ancient  Church  tones.  As  a  composer  he 
developed  the  plain  setting  of  the  choral  by  paying  more  atten- 
tion to  the  subordinate  voices,  giving  them  more  fluency  and 
independence,  and  making  them  more  singable,  more  living  mem- 
bers of  the  musical  organism.  He  wrote  Hymni  Sacri  Lathii  Et 
Germayii.  1594.  Krfurt.  Harmonia  Cantionum  Ecclesiasticarum. 
1597.  I^eipzig.  Der  Psalter  Davids  gesangweis.  1602.  I^eipzig. 
(Dr.  Cornelius  Becker's  gereimte  Psalmenbearbeitung).  Besides 
these,  various  Motettes,  Hymns,  Psalms,  the  manuscript  of 
which  is  preserved  in  St.  Thomas  School  in  Leipzig.  Schober- 
lein  contains  the  following  numbers  of  Calvisius: 

Ich  danke  dem  Herrn  von  ganzem  Herzen.  Offertory. 
Psalm  III.    Schbb.  i,  201  b. 

O,  lyamm  Gottes  unschuldig.    i,  263  a. 

Te  Deiim.    i.  362. 

hi  Natali  Domini.    (Da  Christus  geboren  war),    ii,  55. 
Ex  Legis  Observantia.     (Da  Jesus  Christ  Marise  Kind), 
ii,  174. 

Veni  Sancte  Spiritus  Et  Emitte.  (Sequenz).  ii,  444. 
Hat's  Gott  Versehn.  Hymn  of  Consolation.  Mel.  by 
Calvisius.  iii,  364. 
Hans  IvKO  HasslKR,  in  the  language  of  his  epitaph,  ''Mu- 
sicus  Inter  Germanos  Sua  Aetate  Summits,^''  was  born  a.  1564  at 
Niirnberg,  to  which  city  his  father  Isaac  Hassler,  a  musician  of 
Joachimsthal,  had  moved.  In  the  year  1584  the  wealthy  house 
of  the  Fuggers  in  Augsburg  sent  him  to  Venice  to  finish  his  mu- 
sical education  under  the  celebrated  Andrea  Gabrieli, — a  most 
important  event  in  the  development  of  German  Church  Music, 
signifying  a  turn  from  the  influence  of  Netherlandish  (Dutch) 
art  to  that  of  the  Italians.  In  1585  he  returned  to  Augsburg  as 
the  Organist  of  Count  Ottaviano  Fugger,  and  during  the  fifteen 
years  spent  in  that  city  his  most  important  compositions  in  the 
sphere  of  Church  Music  were  produced.  In  1601  he  took  charge 
of  the  Church  Music  of  his  native  town,  Niirnberg,  serving  also 
as  organist  in  one  of  its  churches.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
honored  by  the  German  Emperor  Rudolph  II  with  the  title  "His 
Roman  Imperial  Majesty's  Courtservant,"  which  secured  to  him 
an  annual  stipend  without  any  fixed  obligations  on  his  part.  In 
1608  he  received  the  appointment  from  the  Elector  of  Saxony  as 
"Musicus  u.  Kammer-Organist"  in  Dresden.    In  161 2  he  died 


KARI,Y  LUTHERAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


79 


at  Frankfurt  a.  Main,  to  which  city  he  had  accompanied  the 
Elector. 

We  mention  Hassler  with  the  class  of  composers  that  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  Osiander,  chiefly  on  account  of  his  Kirchen- 
gesaeng:  Psalmen  u.  Geistliche  Lieder,  auf  die  gemeinen  Melo- 
dieen  mit  vier  Stimmen  simpliciter  gesetzt.  Niirnberg,  1607. 
(71  numbers  with  complete  texts.)  In  the  preface  he  declares 
his  purpose  very  much  in  the  same  spirit  as  Osiander,  "that  in 
the  Christian  assembly  the  common  people  might  be  able  to  join 
in  these  songs, — 'neben  dem  Figural'  along  with  the  figurated 
setting. ' ' 

This  work  however,  by  no  means  exhausts  the  list  of  Hass- 
ler's  compositions.  He  wrote  eight  masses,  for  four,  five,  six 
and  eight  voices,  (Niirnberg,  1599)  which  give  him  a  place  side  by 
side  with  Palestrina  and  Orlando  di  Lasso.  Siona,  that  excellent 
monthly  for  Church  Music,  edited  by  Dr.  Theol.  Max  Herold, 
reprints  from  his  Mass  ''Super  Dixit  Maria  ad  Ayigelum^'"  the 
Kyrie  (IX,  193),  Gloria  in  Excelsis  (X,  16),  Credo  (X,  102), 
Sanctus  (X,  160),  Ag7ius  (XI,  16). 

For  the  Choirs  of  Evangelical  Churches  Hassler  composed 
his  ''Psalmen  u.  Christliche  Gesaeng,  mit  vier  Stimmen,  auf  die 
Melodieen  fugweis  componirt."  Niirnberg,  1607.  There  are 
fifty-two  numbers,  including  thirty  choral  tunes, — models  of 
•counterpoint  work  in  the  treatment  of  the  choral.  In  his  secular 
songs,  " Lustgarten  Neuer  Teutscher  Gesaeng,''  etc.,  Niirnberg, 
1 60 1,  he  gave  to  the  Church  that  jewel  of  a  tune  (Endlich  II, 
220)  of  which  Bach,  in  his  Passion  Music  (Matthseus)  and  other- 
wise, made  such  extensive  use.  He  wrote  the  tune  originally  for 
the  German  Folks'  Song,  "Mein  Gmuet  ist  mir  verwirret."  The 
text  of  Christopher  Knoll's  hymn,  "Herzlich  thut  mich  verlan- 
gen' '  was  for  the  first  time  used  with  this  tune  in  a  School  Hymn 
Book,  HarinonicE  Sacra:,  Goerlitz,  161 3. 

Schoberlein  gives  the  following  numbers  of  Hassler' s  com- 
positions: 

Komm  Heiliger  Geist,  Herre  Gott.    i,  28. 

Antiphonal  between  Choir  and  Congregation. 
Als  Jesus  Christus  unser  Herr.    (Communion  Hymn  i, 
202  a.) 

(O  mensch,  bewein  dein  Suende  gross). 
Ve7ii  Redejnptor  Ge7itium,  ii,  14  b. 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


Herr  Christ,  der  einig  Gotts  Sohn.    ii,  23. 
A  Solis  Ortus  Car  dine,    ii,  51  a. 
In  Dulci  Jubilo.    ii.  71a. 

Vom  Himmel  hoch.  ii,  74  a.  (Two  Sopr.  Alto,  Bariton). 
Von  Gott  will  ich  nicht  lassen.    ii,  119  a. 

(Helft  mir  Gotts  Guete  preisen). 
So  sprach  Maria  zu  Gabriel,    ii,  191. 

Responsory  for  Choir. 
Ave  Maris  Stella,    ii,  192.    (Hymnus  for  Choir). 
Christus,  der  uns  selig  macht.    ii,  249  a.    (Mel.  Bohem. 

Brethren.) 

Herr  Jesu  Christ,  wahrr  Mensch  und  Gott.    ii,  298  a. 
(Mel.  Bohem.  Br.) 

Da  Jesus  an  dem  Kreuze  stund.    ii,  299. 

Herzlich  thut  mich  verlangen.    ii,  306  a. 

Christ  ist  erstanden.    ii,  354  a. 

Christ  lag  in  Todesbanden.    ii,  355  b. 

Jesus  Christus  unser  Heiland,  der  den  Tod.    ii,  357  b. 

Christ  fuhr  gen  Himmel.    ii,  406  a.    Sequenz  for  Ascen- 
sion Day. 

Tune:  Christ  ist  erstanden. 

Gott  der  Vater  wohn  uns  bei.    ii,  474. 

Nun  bitten  wir  den  Heiligen  Geist.    ii,  445  b.    (Choir  in 
five  parts) . 

Sequenz  for  Pentecost. 

Christ  unser  Herr  zum  Jordan  kam.    ii,  504. 
Sequenz  for  the  Day  of  John  the  Baptist. 

Magnificat.     Tonus  Peregrinus.    ii,  516. 

Aus  tiefer  Not.    The  North  German  Tune,  for  Choir, 
ii,  587  a. 

Nun  freut  euch  lieben  Christen  gmein.    ii,  618. 
Es  ist  das  Heil  uns  kommen  her.    ii,  619  a. 
Ein  feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott.    ii,  620  a. 
Ach  Gott  vom  Himmel  sieh  darein.    ii,  622. 
Wo  Gott  der  Herr  nicht  bei  uns  haelt.    ii,  623. 
Es  spricht  der  Unweisen  Mund  wohl.    iii,  234. 
Aus  tiefer  Not.    South  Germ.  Mel.    iii,  259  a. 
Ich  ruf  zu  Dir,  Herr  Jesu  Christ,    iii,  304  a. 
Herr  Gott,  der  Du  erforschest  mich.    iii,  306. 
Der  Herr  ist  mein  getreuer  Hirt.    iii,  316  a. 


KARI^Y  LUTHERAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


81 


Da  Israel  aus  ^gypten  zog.    Hi,  317. 
Dies  sind  die  heilgen  zehn  Gebot.    iii,  326  a. 
Warum  betruebst  du  dich  mein  Herz.    iii,  348. 
Mag  ich  Unglueck  nit  widerstahn.    iii,  353  a. 
Herr  Gott,  ich  trau  allein  auf  dich.    iii,  361. 
Herr,  wie  lang  willst  vergessen  mein.    iii,  362. 
Cantate  Domino.    Choir  for  Alto,  two  Tenors  and  Bass, 
iii,  438. 

Gratias  agimus.    The  same,    iii,  439. 

Christe  qui  Lux  es  et  Dies,    iii,  488  a. 

Wo  Gott  zum  Haus  nicht  gibt  sein  Gunst.    iii,  534  a. 

Wir  glauben  all  an  Einen  Gott.    iii,  627  a. 

Sanctus.    Choir  in  four  parts,    iii,  630. 

Jesaia  dem  Propheten  das  geschah.    iii,  631. 

Nicene  Creed.    After  H.  L.  Hassler.    iii.  664. 
By  far  the  most  prolific  writer  of  Church  music  in  this 
period,  and  indeed,  in  the  whole  domain  of  Lutheran  Church 
Music,  is 

Michael  Praetorius,  born  a.  1571  in  Creutzberg,  in 
Thuringia.  He  usually  signs  himself  "M.  P.  C."  that  is,  Mich. 
Praet.  Creutzenbergensis,  to  distinguish  his  name  from  the  Ham- 
burg Praetoriuses  of  those  days.  In  1604  he  became  "Kapell- 
meister" of  the  Duke  of  Brunswick  at  Wolfenbiittel,  and  a.  1613 
he  was  honored  with  the  same  title  by  the  Elector  of  Saxony, 
which  put  him  under  no  other  obligation  except  that  he  had  now 
and  then  to  send  one  of  his  compositions  to  Dresden.  He  died 
a.  1 62 1  at  Wolfenbiittel.  His  work  as  a  composer  covers  the 
whole  field  of  the  Service  music  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  his 
Leiturgodia  Sionia,  four  parts,  Wolfenbiittel,  1611.  But  here 
he  shows  himself  entirely  too  much  under  the  influence  of  the 
Italians,  whose  art  he  did  not  so  thoroughly  assimilate  and  digest 
as  Hassler  and  Schuetz  succeeded  in  doing.  He  writes  for  effect 
without  sufficient  regard  to  the  devotional  character  of  the  Ser- 
vice, and  the  claims  of  true  churchly  art.  But  in  his  ''Musce 
SionicB,''  Geistliche  Concert-Gesaenge  ueber  die  fuernehmbste 
Deutsche  Psalmen  und  Lieder,  wie  sie  in  der  christlichen  Kirchen 
gesungen  werden."  Nine  parts,  1607-1610,  he  furnishes  not 
less  than  1248  settings  which  are,  of  course,  not  all  of  the  same 
excellence,  but  still  contain  some  of  the  most  beautiful  arrange- 
ments of  the  finest  jewels  of  our  Church  song.    For  instance:  Es 


82 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


ist  ein  Reis  entsprungen,  (Schobrl.  ii,  99.)  In  Dulci  Jubilo, 
ibid,  ii,  72,  a.  b.  c.  for  two,  three  and  four  voices.  Geborn  ist 
der  Emanuel.  Sion a,  December  1877.  (Compare  Sonntagschul- 
buch  53.) 

Praetorius  is  also  prominent  as  a  writer  on  the  history  and 
theory  of  Music  in  his  Syntagma  Musicum,  first  Volume,  Witten- 
berg, 1615.  Second  and  Third  Vols.  Wolfenbiittel,  1618.  The 
fourth  volume  was  to  treat  of  the  counterpoint,  but  never  ap- 
peared in  print. 

Schoberlein  gives  no  less  than  162  numbers  from  Mich.  Prae- 
torius; of  these  140  are  from  the  Musce  Sionice^  and  only  22  from 
the  Leiturgodia  Sionia.  In  Endlich's  Chorgesaenge  the  follow- 
ing are  from  Pr. 

Hosianna  dem  Sohne  David.    No.  2. 
Bs  kam  ein  Engel  hell  und  klar.    No.  5. 
Es  war  des  ewigen  Vaters  Rat.    No.  26. 
Allein  auf  Gottes  Wort  will  ich.    No.  27. 
Ach  Gott  vom  Himmelreiche.    No.  29. 
Erweckt  hat  mir  das  Herz  zu  Dir.    No.  30. 
Ich  armer  Suender  klag  mein  Leid.    No.  32. 
Was  ist  es  doch,  mein  Herz  dass  du  hast  noch.    No.  35. 
The  tendency  to  simplify  the  settings  of  the  Church  tunes, 
with  due  consideration  for  the  congregation,  so  as  to  enable  it  to 
take  part  in  their  rendering,  undoubtedly  involved  the  danger 
that  the  higher  artistic  forms  of  figurated  polyphonous  composi- 
tions should  gradually  disappear,  or,  at  least,  be  neglected  by  the 
majority  of  composers.    A  certain  reaction  in  the  interest  of  this 
more  artistic  style  is  represented  by  the  so-called  Prussian  school 
of  composers,  foremost  by  John  Eccard,  for  whom  Winterfeld 
claims  the  very  first  place  in  I^utheran  Choir  Music. 

John  Eccard  was  born  a.  1553  in  Muehlhausen,  Thuringia, 
and  received  his  first  musical  training  from  Joachim  von  Burgk, 
cantor  and  organist  of  the  principal  church  of  his  native  town. 
From  1 571-1574  he  was  the  pupil  of  the  illustrious  Orlando  di 
lyasso  in  Muenchen.  Having  returned  to  his  native  town,  in 
1574,  he  published  twenty  compositions  on  the  songs  of  Ludwig 
Helmbold,  {Odce  Sacrce)  written  in  the  polyphonous  style  of  his 
master  Orlando  di  Lasso.  A  few  years  later  we  find  him  in  the 
service  of  Count  Jacob  Fugger  at  Augsburg  who  probably  fur- 
nished him  with  means  for  a  journey  to  Venice,  to  pursue  his 


KARI,Y  LUTHERAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


83 


studies  under  Andrea  Gabrieli  and  other  masters,  as  Hassler  also 
did.  In  the  year  1579  he  accepted  a  call  of  Markgrave  George 
Frederik  of  Brandenburg-Ansbach  to  Konigsberg,  as  "Vice- 
Kapellmeister  in  Preussen."  In  1607  he  moved  to  Berlin  where 
he  died  in  1611. 

In  1 586  he  was  charged  by  his  Prince  to  furnish  five-part 
settings  for  the  melodies  commonly  used  in  Prussia.  This  led  to 
the  publication  of  his  Geistliche  Lieder  auf  de?i  Choral,  oder 
die  gebraeuchlichen  Kirchenmelodieen  gerichtet  und  fue7ifstimmig 
gesetzty  Konigsberg,  1597.  Fifty-five  numbers,  in  all,  repub- 
lished by  Breitkopf  und  Haertel  in  Leipzig,  i860.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  appeared  his  "Festlieder,"  compositions  for  five  to  eight 
voices,  with  original  tunes. 

Kccard  brought  to  his  work  a  thorough  schooling  in  counter- 
point after  the  manner  of  Orlando  di  Lasso.  But  he  was  bound 
by  the  order  of  his  Prince  to  pay  due  regard  to  the  choral  of  the 
congregation,  preserving  the  melody  in  its  usual  form,  and  giv- 
ing it  to  the  Soprano.  In  the  treatment  of  the  different  voices 
we  notice  a  remarkable  simplicity  in  the  bass,  but  much  more 
freedom  and  motion  in  the  middle  voices.  All  the  parts  are  quite 
singable,  fluent  and  perspicuous,  and,  withal,  dignified.  His 
harmonies  are  rich  and  of  matchless  purity.  Though,  even  in 
recent  times,  the  old  question  as  to  the  participation  of  the  con- 
gregation in  the  rendering  of  these  compositions  has  been  revived, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  only  way  to  do  justice  to 
Eccard  and  to  appreciate  fully  the  beauty  of  his  settings  is  to 
leave  their  execution  to  the  choir  alone.  If  the  congregation  is 
to  have  its  share  in  the  respective  hymn  this  may  be  done  in  the 
most  effective  manner  by  changing  about  from  verse  to  verse,  be- 
tween choir  and  congregation,  thus  making  the  rendering  of  the 
hymn  antiphonal,  as  it  was  done  with  grand  effect,  in  the  Acad- 
emy of  Music  in  Philadelphia,  on  November  10,  1883,  with  "Kin 
feste  Burg  ist  unser  Gott." 

Eccard  is  well  represented  in  Schoberlein,  with  the  following 
52  numbers: 

*0  Lamm  Gottes,  unschuldig.    i,  263  d. 

Vom  Himmel  hoch  da  komm  ich  her.    ii,  74  a. 
*Gelobet  seist  du  Jesu  Christ,    ii,  85  b. 

The  numbers  marked  *  are  specified  in  Kuemmerle's  Encyclopedia  for  Church 
Music  as  the  best  of  Eccard's  compositions. 


ESSAYS  OX  CHmCH  MUSIC. 


Xachdem  die  Sonn  beschlossen.       ii,  139. 
Ich  lag  in  tiefer  Todesnacht.    ii,  158. 

(Sung  by  the  Leipzig  Quartet) . 
Freu  dich  du  werte  Christenheit.    ii,  205. 
Heir  Jesu  Christ  wahr'  Mensch  und  Gott.    ii,  297  a. 
Da  Jesus  an  dem  Kreuze  stund.    ii,  300. 
Christ  lag  Todesbanden.    ii.  355  d. 
Jesus  Christus,  unser  Heiland,    ii,  357  c. 

(All  these  in  five  parts:    Sopr.    Alto.    2  Ten.  Bass.) 
Maria  wallt  zum  Heiligtum.    ii,    184.     (2  Sopr.  Alt. 

2  Ten.  Bass.) 
Zu  dieser  oesterlichen  Zeit.    ii.   360.    4  parts. 

The  same.  ii.  361.     Six  Parts.    3  Sopr.  A.  T.  B. 
Weil  unser  Trost  du  Herre  Christ,    ii,  376.    5  parts. 

2  Sopr.  A.   T.  B. 
Mein  schoenste  Zier.    ii,  377.    Same  arr. 
Gen  Him m el  faehrt  der  Herre  Christ,    ii,  415  b.    4  parts. 
Freut  euch  ihr  Christen  alle.    ii.  416.    5  parts. 
Der  Heilig  Geist  vom  Himmel  kam.    ii,  448.    4  parts. 

(Endlich  I  '. 

Sei  froehlich  alle  Zeit.    ii,  454.    5  parts.    2  S.  A.  T.  B. 
Der  Zacharias  ganz  verstummt.    ii,  508.    2  S.  A.  T.  B. 
Uebers  Gebirg  Maria  geht.    ii.   523.,    2S.  A.   T.  B. 
Aus  Lieb  laesst  Gott  der  Christenheit.    ii,  545.    2  S.  A. 
T.  B. 

Ermuntert  euch.  ihr  Frommen.    ii,  572  a.    5  parts.  S. 
A.   2  T.  B. 
^Aus  tiefer  Xot.    ii,   588  b. 
*Es  ist  das  Heil  uns  kommen  her.    ii,  619  b. 
*Ein  feste  Burg,    ii,  620  b. 

Sung  at  the  Luther  Centennial.  18S3,  in  the  Academ}- 
of  Music,  Philadelphia. 
Erhalt  uns  Herr  bei  deinem  Wort,    ii,  621. 
Verleih  uns  Frieden  gnaediglich.    ii,  677. 
Gib  unsrem  Fuersten.    ii.  682. 
=^Ach  Gott  vom  Himmel  sieh  darein.    iii,  227. 
Wo  Gott  der  Herr  nicht  bei  uns  haelt.    iii.  230  a.    2  S. 
A.   T.  B. 

O  Herre  Gott,  dein  goettlich  Wort,  iii,  233.  S.  A.  2  T.  B. 
Kommt  her  zu  mir,  spricht  Gottes  Sohn.    iii,  291  c. 


EARLY  I.UTHBRAN  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


85 


*Herr  Christ  der  einig  Gotts  Sohn.    iii,  296. 
Dies  sind  die  heilgen  zehn  Gebot.  iii,  326  b.   2  S.  A.  T.  B. 
Mensch,  willt  du  leben  seliglich.  iii,  327b.  S.  A.  2T.  B. 
Ich  ruf  zu  Dir,  Herr  Jesu  Christ.     Ill,  328  c.     S.  A. 
2  T.  B. 

*Was  mein  Gott  will,  gescheh  allzeit.    Ill,  356  b. 

Von  Gott  will  ich  nicht  lassen.    Ill,  359  a. 
*Nun  lob  mein  Seel  den  Herren.    Ill,  417  c 

Ihr  Alten  pflegt  zu  sagen.    Ill,  501.    2  S.  A.  Baryton. 

Dass  noch  viel  Menschen  werden.    Ill,  503.    Four  Parts. 

Age  nunc,  parve puer.    Ill,  512.    2  S.  A.  Baryton. 

Wohl  dem,  der  in  Gottes  Furcht  steht.  Ill,  532.  S.  2  A. 
T.  B. 

Wo  Gott  zum  Haus  nicht  gibt  Sein  Gunst.    Ill,  534  b. 

Jam  moesta  quiesce  querela.    Ill,  553  a.    S.  A.  2  T.  B. 

Mitten  wir  im  Leben  sind.    Ill,  571. 

Wir  glauben  all  an  Einen  Gott.    Ill,  627  b. 

Vater  unser  im  Himmelreich.    Ill,  634. 

Magnificat.    Ill,  642  b. 

Im  Garten  leidet  Christus  Not.  Ill,  646.  2  S.  A.  2  T.  B. 
Along  with  Eccard  his  contemporary,  Leonhard  Schroe- 
TER  also  deserves  to  be  specially  mentioned.  He  was  born  at 
Torgau,  a.  1540,  and  probably  received  his  first  musical  training 
under  Michael  Voigt,  the  Cantor  of  his  native  town.  In  the  year 
1565  he  succeeded  Gallus  Dressier  as  Cantor  in  the  school  at 
Magdeburg,  and  there  he  died,  probably  about  1602.  Among  his 
works  are:  XXV  Geistl .  Lateinische  Hymneji  auf  alle  Hauptfeste 
zu  gebrauchen,  von  vier.fuenf,  sechs  und  acht  Stimme7i.'''  Erfurt, 
1 580. — '  'XXVIII  Geistl.  Lateinische  Hymnen  auf  die  Hauptfeste  zu 
gebrauchen,  von  vier.fuenf,  seeks  U7id  acht  Stimmen.'"  Erfurt,  1587. 
''Neuwe  Weihnachtliedlein ,  niit  vier  und  acht  Stimmen  comp07iirt. 
Helmstaedt.'"  1587.  Schroeter  was  perfectly  at  home  in  the  pure 
polyphonous  style  of  Palestrina  and  the  Roman  school,  and  his 
figurated  settings  of  the  most  important  hymns  are  among  the 
very  best  things  which  Germany  has  produced  in  this  line.  He 
also  accommodated  himself  to  the  demands  of  his  time  by  giving 
to  the  melody  the  ruling  position,  and  adapting  himself  to  the 
closed  form  of  the  hymn,  and  the  new  principles  of  harmonization 
demanded  by  it.  How  beautifully  he  understood  to  combine 
these  features  appears  best  in  his  lovely  Christmas  Song,  "Freut 


86 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


euch,  ihr  lieben  Christen."  Endlich  I,  Page  104.  (The  plain 
tune  in  Sonntagschulbuch  No.  37.) 

Schoberleiu  has  eleven  numbers  from  Schroeter: 
Veni  Redemptor  Gentium,    II,  15. 
A  Solis  Ortus  Cardine.    II,  52. 

Dies  Est  LcetiticB.  (Kin  Kindelein  so  loebelich).  II,  54  c. 
Hoert  zu  und  seid  getrost.    II,  73. 

Lobt  Gott,  ihr  Christen  alle  gleich.  II,  91  b.  2S.  A.  T.  B. 

Freut  euch  ihr  lieben  Christen.    II,  95. 

Helft  mir  Gotts  Guete  preisen.    II,  119  b. 
(Von  Gott  will  ich  nicht  lassen). 

Festum  Nunc  Celebre.    II,  396  c. 

Komm  Gott  Schoepfer,  Heiliger  Geist.    II,  435  c. 

O  Lux  Beata  Trinitas.    II,  466  d. 

Allein  Gott  in  der  Hoeh  sei  Ehr.  II,  475. 
Next  to  Michael  Praetorius  the  composer  most  frequently 
quoted  and  used  by  Schoberlein  is  Mei.chior  Frank,  born  about 
1575  in  Zittau,  Oberlausitz,  Silesia.  From  i6oi-i6o3he  held  an 
appointment  as  Musician  of  the  City  Council  of  Niirnberg,  and 
afterwards  was  called  to  Coburg,  as  Musical  Director,  Kapell- 
meister, of  Duke  Johann  Casimir.  He  died  a.  1639.  The 
beautiful  tune  "Jerusalem  Du  hochgebaute  Stadt"  is  generally 
ascribed  to  him. 

Much  more  even  than  Eccard,  Melchior  Frank  represents  the 
reaction  of  the  older  Motette  style  against  those  arrangements 
which  had  special  regard  to  the  congregation's  participation  in 
choral  singing.  His  Contrapuncti  Compositi  Teutscher  Psalmen  und 
andrer  geistlicher  Kirchengesaeng  Niirnberg,  1602,  are  clearly 
intended  as  Choir  pieces,  over  against  such  compositions  as  were 
written  ''In  Contrapuncto  simplici''''  so  as  to  make  it  possible  for 
the  people  to  join  in  the  singing.  Frank  cultivates  the  old  large 
style  of  the  Motette,  preserving  the  peculiar  features  of  the  an- 
cient Church  tones.  The  influence  of  the  Italians  can  clearly  be 
traced  in  his  settings. 

Of  the  99  selections  from  Melchior  Frank,  contained  in  Scho- 
berlein, the  following  are  found  in  Endlich  I. 
•  Warum  liegst  im  Krippelein.    Page  100. 

Unser  Keiner  lebt  ihm  selber.    P.  108. 

Also  hat  Gott  die  Welt  geliebt.    P.  148. 

Die  Erloeseten  des  Herrn.    P.  160. 


BARtY  tUTH:eRAK  CHOIR  MtJStC. 


87 


Of  special  interest  are  the  Gospel  Sentences,  Kvangelien- 
sprueche,  throughout  the  Church  Year,  written  by  Melchior 
Frank  in  the  Motette  style  and  reprinted  in  the  third  volume  of 
Schoberlein. 

Besides  these  the  following  masters  of  lyUtheran  choir  musk 
might  be  mentioned,  as  belonging  to  this  period:  Joachim,  (Muel- 
ler) von  Burgk,  1 546-1610,  Gotthardt  Krythraeus,  1 560-1 61 7, 
Bartholomaeus  Gesius,  1560-16 13,  Bartholomseus  Helder,  died 
1635  Melchior  Vulpius,  i56ori6i6. 

It  is  hoped  that  this  brief  sketch  may  be  helpful  to  the 
friends  of  pure  Church  Music,  especially  the  leaders  of  our  Choirs, 
to  study  the  compositions  of  these  Masters.  To  this  end  the 
numbers  found  in  Schoberlein  and  Endlich  are,  mostly,  given  in 
full,  as  those  collections  are  accessible  to  all.  It  is  evident  that 
this  early  Lutheran  Choir  Music,  representing  in  fact  its  classical 
period,  rests  altogether  on  the  Choral.  It  cannot  be  separated 
from  it.  The  more  our  choirs  will  be  led  back  to  the  old  Luther- 
an Choral  Tunes  and  study  to  render  them  with  true  devotion  in 
the  fine  artistic  settings  of  these  masters,  the  more  will  their 
singing  be  brought  into  full  harmony  with  the  Service  itself  and 
lead  to  the  true  edification  of  the  congregation. 


THE  DETERIORATION  OF  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


BY  THE  REV.  J.   F.   OHL,  MUS.  DOC. 


The  subject  before  us  is  stated  in  terms  that  will  at  once  provoke 
opposition.  It  distinctly  affirms  what  is  denied  b}'  most,  to  wit, 
that  choir  music  has  degenerated. 

The  question  at  issue  is  however,  not  whether  choir  music 
only  as  an  art-form  has  deteriorated,  but  whether  what  is  used 
to-day  in  most  churches  is  in  the  best  sense  Church  music,  in 
every  way  suited  to  the  house  and  service  of  God,  and  fitted  to 
aid  the  devotions  of  the  worshiping  congregation. 

lyike  ecclesiastical  architecture  and  painting,  choir  music  as 
pure  Church  music  has  had  a  period  of  bloom  unsurpassed,  nay 
even  unapproached  by  any  compositions  of  modern  times.  Its 
history  ma}^  be  said  to  begin  with  the  great  Belgian  School  and 
to  extend  to  about  the  second  decade  of  the  seventeenth  centur3^ 
Into  this  period,  the  latter  part  of  which  is  usualh^  called  "The 
Golden  Age  of  Ecclesiastical  Music,"  fall  the  names  of  des  Pres 
and  di  Lassus  of  the  Belgian  School,  Eccard  and  Hassler  of  the 
German,  Tallis,  Byrd  and  Gibbons  of  the  English,  and  above  all, 
that  of  the  great  Italian  Palestrina,  the  beauties  of  whose  style 
"were  speedily  recognized  from  one  end  of  Europe  to  the  other, 
exercising  more  or  less  influence  over  the  productions  of  all  other 
Schools,  and  thereby  bringing  the  music  of  the  Mass,  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  to  a  degree  of  perfection  be- 
yond which  it  has  never  since  advanced."^    Says  Rockstro  again: 

*  Rockstro:   Grove's  Dictionary.    Vol.  II,  p.  231. 

(Ixxxviii) 


THE  DETERIORATION  OF  CHOIR  MUSIC, 


89 


*'The  true  Ecclesiastical  Style,  as  determined  hy  the  Mzssa  Papce 
Marcelli,  differs  from  that  which  preceded  it,  not  in  its  technical, 

but  in  its  aesthetic  character  Palestrina  was  the  first 

great  genius  who  so  concealed  his  learning  as  to  cause  it  to  be 
absolutely  overlooked  in  the  beauty  of  the  resulting  effect.  It 
was  given  to  Okenheim  to  unite  the  dry  bones  of  Counterpoint 
into  a  wondrously  articulated  skeleton,  and  to  Josquin  to  clothe 
that  skeleton  with  flesh;  to  Palestrina  was  committed  the  infin- 
itely higher  privilege  of  endowing  the  perfect  form  with  the  spirit 
which  enabled  it  not  only  to  live,  but  to  give  thanks  to  God  in 
strains  such  as  Polyphony  had  never  before  imagined.  It  was 
not  the  beauty  of  its  construction,  but  the  presence  of  the  soul 
within  it  that  rendered  his  music  immortal."*  Of  the  music  of 
his  great  contemporary,  di  I,assus,  another  writer  says:  "So  un- 
obtrusive is  its  character,  that  we  can  fancy  the  worshipers  hear- 
ing it  by  the  hour,  passive  rather  than  active  listeners,  with  no 
thought  of  the  human  mind  that  fashioned  its  form.  Yet  the  art 
is  there,  for  there  is  no  monotony  in  the  sequence  of  the  move- 
ments. Every  variety  that  can  be  naturally  obtained  by  changes 
of  key,  contrasted  effects  of  repose  and  activity,  or  distribution 
of  voices,  are  here;  but  these  changes  are  so  quietly  and  natural- 
ly introduced,  and  the  startling  contrasts,  now  called  'dramatic' 
so  entirely  avoided,  that  the  composer's  part  seems  only  to  have 
been  to  deliver  faithfully  a  divine  message,  without  attracting 
notice  to  himself,  "t  The  productions  of  the  English  and  Ger- 
man composers  of  this  period  are  spoken  of  in  similar  terms  by 
those  who  are  familiar  with  them.  A  very  recent  writer  declares 
that  "every  school-boy  knows  something  of  the  Elizabethan 
poets,  but  few  are  aware  that  the  Elizabethan  period  was  the 
most  glorious  period  of  English  musical  composition;"  whilst  of 
the  corresponding  period  of  German  musical  art,  so  high  an  au- 
thority as  Naumann  is  obliged  to  confess:  "We  feel,  with  a  sense 
of  shame,  that  the  musical  portion  of  the  Evangelical  service  has 
not  progressed  but  gone  back,  and  that  to  such  a  degree  that  we 
doubt  whether  it  will  ever  again  attain  that  high  state  of  excel- 
lence which  Luther  gained  for  it."  J 

Art  music  was  introduced  into  the  Church  Service  with  the 


*  Grovels  Dictionary .    Vol.  Ill,  p.  264. 

t  Ibid.    Vol.  II,  p.  96. 

X  History  of  Music.     Vol.  I,  p.  47 1. 


90 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


invention  of  Counterpoint,  and  advanced  as  Counterpoint  was 
elaborated.  In  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  the  texts  chosen  for 
harmonic  treatment  were  and  continue  to  be  invariably  a' part 
of  the  lyiturgy,  above  all  the  five  fixed  parts  of  the  Mass,  viz., 
the  KyriCj  the  Gloria^  the  Credo,  the  Sanctus  including  the  Bene- 
dictus  qui  venit,  and  the  Agnus  Dei.  In  the  artistic  setting  of 
these  texts  the  great  masters  of  the  sixteenth  century  made  use 
of  the  themes  derived  from  the  music  which  through  centuries 
had  been  associated  with  the  Liturgy,  i.  e.,  the  Gregorian  chant; 
and  "by  means  of  the  skill  and  inventiveness  of  those  inspired 
minds,"  says  Ritter,  the  chant  had  imparted  to  it  '*a  power  and 
intensity  of  true  sacred  expression,  an  ideal  meaning  far  more 
effective  and  touching  than  that  it  possessed  in  its  simple  and 
slender  garb."  Here  then  was  a  musical  art  that  like  the  Gothic 
architecture  was  developed  from  very  simple  forms  into  structures 
of  wondrous  symmetry  and  beauty,  and  that  like  the  latter,  as  a 
distinctive  art  of  the  Church,  most  faithfully  expressed  the  heav- 
enward aspirations  of  the  worshiping  soul.  It  was  not  profane 
art,  but  Christian  art,  brought  to  the  perfection  of  Christian 
beauty  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Church,  and  intended  only 
for  the  Church.  Hence  we  hear  Thibaut  say:  '*I  should  consider 
it  inexcusable  for  a  single  bar  of  a  sacred  work  of  Palestrina*s  to 
be  introduced  into  an  opera;  but  it  would  also  be  abominable  to 
find  in  a  Mass  the  least  trace  of  the  rich  and  ready  fancy  so  pe- 
culiarly characteristic  of  the  Figaro  of  Mozart." 

Turning  now  to  the  Protestant  Church  we  find  that  the 
Reformation  introduced  a  new  element  into  the  Church  Service, 
or  rather  restored  what  had  long  been  lost,  to  wit,  the  unisonous 
song  of  the  people.  The  congregational  hymn  again  became  an 
integral  part  of  the  Service.  In  this  and  in  other  parts  the  peo- 
ple again  came  to  their  rights  as"  active  participants.  But  this 
did  not  lead  to  the  abolition  of  the  choir  and  choir  music.  Of 
such  a  procedure  there  was  no  thought.  In  his  arrangement  of 
the  Mass  or  Communion  Service  Luther  eliminated  only  the  doc- 
trinal errors,  but  allowed  the  Scriptural  liturgico  musical  texts 
of  the  ancient  Mass  to  remain  unaltered,  to  be  sung,  as  circum- 
stances would  permit,  either  choraliter  or  Jiguraliter.  Where 
there  were  competent  choirs  these  texts,  for  a  time,  continued  to 
be  sung  in  Latin  to  the  music  already  in  use,  the  beauty,  spon- 
taneity and  power  of  which  Luther  esteemed  so  highly,  that  he 


THK  DETERIORATION  OF  CHOIR  MUSIC, 


91 


would  not  risk  the  destruction  of  these  qualities  by  attempting 
the  almost  impossible  task  of  adapting  a  German  text  to  the 
music.  The  five  fixed  parts  of  the  Communion  Service  were, 
however,  soon  put  into  German  verse  for  the  congregation,  to  be 
sung  by  this  in  addition  to  the  Kunstgesang  of  the  choir,  to  the 
melodies  especially  provided  for  them.  The  texts  of  the  variable 
parts  (Introit,  Gradual,  etc.)  were  similarly  treated  and  used. 
The  melodies  thus  introduced  through  the  congregation — many 
of  them  derived  from  the  religious  folk-song,  were  in  turn  har- 
monized in  motet  form  for  the  choir,  to  be  sung  by  it  either  in 
alternation  with  the  unisonous  song  of  the  congregation,  or  in 
place  of  the  I^atin  texts. 

In  all  these  harmonized  arrangements  the  melody  lay  in  the 
tenor.  But  in  his  "Fiinfzig  geistliche  I^ieder  und  Psalmen"  of 
1586,  IvUcas  Osiander  introduced  the  innovation  of  transferring 
the  melody  from  the  tenor  to  the  treble,  in  order,  as  he  says, 
'"that  the  entire  congregation  may  be  enabled  to  join  in  the  sing- 
ing." He  was  followed  in  this  by  Marshall,  Hassler,  Calvisius, 
Gesius,  Jerome  and  Jacob  Praetorius,  Eccard  in  his  "Geistliche 
Lieder"  (1597),  and  others.  It  is  claimed  however,  that  this 
change  was  a  direct  detriment  to  Kunstgesang^  inasmuch  as  it 
destro3'ed  the  balance  of  parts,  obscured  the  really  artistic  work 
of  the  well- trained  choir,  and  made  the  function  of  the  latter  to 
consist  almost  solely  in  accompanying  the  song  of  the  congrega- 
tion. 

Without  at  this  point  even  touching  upon  the  proper  sphere 
and  functions  of  the  choir — a  subject  discussed  at  a  former  Con- 
vocation by  another  writer,  let  us  very  briefly  note  what  were 
the  two  chief  characteristics  of  the  choir  music  of  this  period. 

It  was,  in  the  first  place,  liturgical,  i.  e. ,  the  words  to  which 
it  was  written  were  a  part  of  the  Church  Service.  Composers 
did  not  choose  their  own  texts.  These  were  already  at  hand, 
whether  in  the  Mass  and  other  Services  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  or  in  the  purified  Orders  that  Luther  and  his  co-laborers 
introduced.  Entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  text  as  set  forth  for 
every  season,  day  and  occasion,  and  never  forgetting  that  in 
writing  for  the  Church  they  were  dealing  with  holy  things,  the 
acknowledged  masters  of  that  period  strove  to  make  their  com- 
positions the  faithful  exponents  of  the  devotional  sentiments  be- 
gotten by  the  particular  text  in  hand. 


92 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


In  the  second  place  their  music  was  polyphonic,  i.  e.,  it  was 
unaccompanied  vocal  music  in  many  parts,  each  part  forming  a 
melody  by  itself,  and  all  these  parts  so  bound  together  into  a- har- 
monious whole  as  not  to  need  instrumental  support.  Of  the 
compositions  of  Palestrina,  the  greatest  master  in  this  style, 
Rockstro  says:  "A  careful  study  of  the  works  of  this  great  writer 
will  show  that,  when  regarded  from  a  purely  technical  point  of 
view,  their  greatest  merit  lies  in  the  strictness  with  which  the 
Polyphonic  principle  has  been  carried  out  in  their  development. 
Of  course,  their  real  excellence  lies  in  the  genius  which  dictated 
them;  but,  setting  this  aside,  and  examining  merely  their  me- 
chanical structure,  we  find,  not  only  that  every  part  is  necessary 
to  the  well-being  of  the  whole,  but,  that  it  is  absolutely  impossi- 
ble to  say  in  which  part  the  chief  interest  of  the  composition  is 

concentrated  It  would  seem  impossible  that  Art  could 

go  beyond  this;  and,  in  this  particular  direction,  it  never  has 
gone  beyond  it.  It  is  impossible  now  even  to  guess  what  would 
have  happened  had  the  Polyphonic  School  been  cultivated  in  the 
seventeenth  century  with  the  same  zeal  which  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  it  in  the  sixteenth.  That  it  was  not  so  cultivated  is  a 
miserable  fact  which  can  never  be  sufficiently  deplored.  Pales- 
trina died  in  1594;  and  as  early  as  the  year  1600  his  work  was 
forgotten,  and  his  greatest  triumphs  contemned  as  puerilities. 
Monteverde  sapped  the  foundations  of  the  School  by  his  con- 
tempt for  contrapuntal  laws.  Instrumental  accompaniment  was 
substituted  for  the  ingenuity  of  pure  vocal  writing.  The  choir 
was  sacrificed  to  the  stage.  And,  before  many  years  had  passed, 
the  Polyphonic  School  was  known  no  more,  and  Monodia  reigned 
triumphant."^ 

At  the  close  of  this  statement  the  writer  hints  at  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  deterioration  of  choir  music.  Though  a  few 
earnest  composers  for  at  least  fifty  years  beyond  the  death  of 
Palestrina,  endeavored  to  preserve  his  style,  the  new  influences 
that  began  with  the  seventeenth  century  made  themselves  felt 
with  increasing  energy,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  had 
brought  about  a  complete  change  in  the  character  of  Church  mu- 
sic. The  new  system  of  harmony  invented  by  Monteverde  grad- 
ually led  to  the  substitution  of  the  modern  major  and  minor 
scales  for  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  keys.    The  dissonances  and 

*  Grove's  Dictionary.    Vol.  Ill,  p.  13. 


THK  DKTKRIORATION   OF  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


93 


chromatic  progressions  of  the  new  style,  and  its  facility  for  dra- 
matic expression  gave  the  death-blow  to  polyphonic  music. 
Part-writing  in  the  modern  sense  took  the  place  of  counterpoint. 
The  forms  of  the  opera — the  recitative,  aria,  duetts,  etc.,  found 
their  way  into  the  music  composed  for  the.  Church.  The  themes 
formerly  associated  with  the  lyiturgy  were  discarded.  For  his 
masses  and  motets,  the  composer  no  longer  took  his  motifs  from 
the  Gregorian  chant  and  the  congregational  hymn  tune,  but  in- 
vented his  own.  The  purely  melodic  element  began  to  rule. 
The  organ  became  increasingly  prominent.  Orchestral  music, 
which  had  entered  upon  its  wonderful  modern  development,  was 
freely  used  to  accompany  the  voices,  and  sometimes  even  in  place 
of  the  voices.  Whilst  the  composers  of  Roman  Catholic  Church 
music  indeed  made  use  of  the  liturgical  texts,  their  masses  and 
other  works  were  more  and  more  cast  in  the  new  mold,  with 
beautiful  and  brilliant  results,  viewed  only  from  the  standpoint 
of  aesthetic  Art,  but  often  so  entirely  secular  as  to  cease  to  be 
genuine  Church  music.  The  dramatic  had  triumphed  over  the 
devotional,  the  profane  over  the  sacred,  the  secular  over  the 
churchly,  the  text  itself  serving  the  composer  no  other  purpose 
than  that  of  perfecting  his  art.  In  spite  of  earnest  efforts  at  re- 
form, the  style  set  by  the  new  Italian  School  has  to  the  present 
day  continued  to  influence  composers  for  the  Roman  Catholic 
Service;  and  in  the  sanctuaries  of  that  Church  are  to-day,  as  a 
rule,  heard  works  that  in  churchly  and  devotional  character  are 
not  a  whit  above  the  average  concert  music  sung  in  the  majority 
of  Protestant  churches. 

During  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  music 
of  the  Protestant  Church  felt  the  touch  of  the  same  influences. 
Michael  Praetorius  and  Heinrich  Schiitz  in  Germany,  and  Pel- 
ham  Humphrey,  Michael  Wise  and  John  Blow  in  England  were 
among  the  first  to  adopt  the  new  style.  And  now  another  most 
momentous  change  took  place.  Hitherto,  in  addition  to  the 
fixed  texts  of  the  Liturgy,  each  Sunday  and  Festival  had  its  own 
Hymns,  Sequences,  Responsories,  etc.,  after  the  manner  in  which 
we  find  these  given  in  Schoberlein's  "Schatz  des  liturgischen 
Chor-und  Gemeindegesangs. "  But  towards  the  close  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  composers  began  to  select  and  even  write  their 
own  texts,  and  to  construct  upon  these,  altogether  in  the  new 
style,  works  of  much  larger  proportions  than  the  old  motet. 


94 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


Thus  the  unity  of  the  Service  was  disturbed  by  the  introduction 
of  an  element  in  text  and  music  often  quite  unfamiliar  to  the 
people,  and  the  choir  was  again  given  a  place  practically  inde- 
pendent of  the  people  and  the  Liturgy.  In  Germany  we  now 
^meet  the  Church  Cantata,  and  in  England  the  Solo  and  Verse 
Anthem, — forms  of  composition  often  written  in  highly  dramatic 
form,  abounding  in  recitatives,  arias  and  duets,  and  always  re- 
quiring an  instrumental  accompaniment.  These  compositions, 
altogether  severed  from  the  Liturgy,  took  the  place  of  the  motet, 
not  as  a  homogeneous  element  of  the  Service,  but  as  an  interpo- 
lation meant  to  afford  variety  and  aesthetic  pleasure. 

This  form  of  composition  was  brought  to  its  greatest  perfec- 
tion by  Bach.  In  his  five  series  of  cantatas  for  the  Church  Year 
he  endeavored  not  only  to  arrest  the  decay  of  German  Protestant 
Church  music,  but  also  to  bring  the  cantata  into  some  sort  of  or- 
ganic unity  with  the  rest  of  the  Service.  With  reverent  appreci- 
ation of  its  devotional  and  edifying  character,  Bach  turned  to  the 
Choral  for  his  themes,  just  as  Palestrina  and  other  great  com- 
posers of  the  Roman  Church  had  often  made  the  melody  of  the 
ancient  hymns  and  chants  the  basis  of  their  compositions.  "In 
his  cantatas,  in  his  motets,  in  his  oratorios,  in  his  works  for  the 
organ, — everywhere,"  says  Ritter,  "we  meet  in  Bach's  works  the 
choral,  from  its  simplest  form  of  a  plain  four-part  harmonization, 
to  the  most  artificial  combinations  which  the  deepest  knowledge 
of  counterpoint  can  lend  the  master.  Everywhere  it  is  made  the 
vehicle  of  profound  ideal  contents.  In  his  great  cantatas,  how- 
ever, this  art  reaches  its  culmination.  In  the  cantatas,  all  that 
touches  man's  soul  most  deeply,  every  feeling,  every  emotion, 
from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  is  revealed  in  compositions  inex- 
haustible in  richness  of  harmony,  truthfulness  of  melodious  ex- 
pression, and  the  greatest  variety  of  forms."* 

And  yet,  can  the  cantata  in  any  form  be  called  Church  music 
in  the  proper  sense  when  liturgical  requirements  are  considered? 
Is  not  Bachmann  entirely  right  when  he  says:  "The  cantata  is 
altogether  too  large  a  musical  form  to  leave  one  after  listening 
to  it  in  an  unbroken  frame  of  devotion.  Anything  that  goes  be- 
yond the  motet  form  always  brings  with  it  the  danger  of  miscon- 
ceiving the  purpose  of  public  worship,  and  of  giving  a  well-meant 
but  nevertheless  undue  prominence  to  the  musical  part  of  the 

*  History  of  Music.    First  Series,  1876.    p.  124. 


THE  DETERIORATION  OF  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


95 


Service. "^^  And  this  same  writer  in  speaking  of  Bach's  cantatas 
in  particular,  gives  it  as  his  conviction  that  the  ver^^  richness  of 
these,  and  their  self-existent  place  in  the  Service,  broke  the  or- 
ganic continuity  of  the  Service,  and  deprived  the  congregation  of 
the  impression  which  the  Service  as  a  whole  ought  to  produce. 

As  between  the  music  that  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  Liturgy 
itself  and  the  Church  Cantata,  Liliencron  makes  these  statements: 
The  former  accompanies  the  liturgical  acts  without  breaking  in 
upon  their  sequence;  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  interrupts  these. 
The  former  seeks  only  to  attune  the  worshiping  congregation  to 
the  purest  devotion,  without  diverting  it  from  the  proper  object 
of  its  devotions;  the  latter  claims  the  undivided  attention  of  the 
listener  for  itself.  The  liturgy  furthermore  contains  texts  of  the 
most  extraordinary  grandeur,  almost  as  old  as  the  Church  her- 
self, and  destined  to  live  as  long;  the  cantata,  on  the  contrary, 
has  words  of  a  purely  subjective  character,  reflecting  the  taste  or 
lack  of  taste  of  the  writer,  and  the  spirit  of  the  times.  The  con- 
tents of  the  Liturgy  are  known  to  the  listener  and  enter  into  his 
devotions,  even  though  they  should  be  sung  in  an  unknown 
tongue;  but  the  words  of  the  cantata,  unless  the  hearer  has  them 
before  his  eyes  like  an  opera  libretto,  are  often  only  partially  un- 
derstood by  him,  even  though  they  are  in  his  own  tongue.  After 
making  this  comparison,  Liliencron  very  properly  asks:  "Must 
we  not  conclude  that  the  cantata,  though  certainly  an  art- work 
of  the  Church,  is  after  all,  not  in  the  fullest  sense  adapted  to  give 
choir  music  its  appropriate  share  of  the  Liturgy  in  the  regular 
Lord's  Day  services?" f 

After  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  true  Church 
style  had  practically  disappeared  from  the  Protestant  Church  of 
Germany.  The  brilliant  style  of  Mozart  and  Haydn,  the  con- 
tempt in  which  Pietism  and  Rationalism  held  the  historic  Litur- 
gy, the  substitution  of  the  subjective  for  the  objective,  the  in- 
creasing use  and  abuse  of  the  organ,  the  growing  importance  of 
the  orchestra,  the  altogether  false  notions  regarding  the  function 
of  the  choir  and  of  choir  music,  and  the  growing  love  for  the 
purely  sensuous  in  music  that  came  with  declining  faith, — all 
these  factors  combined  had  made  it  easy  for  the  operatic  style  to 
triumph  completely  over  the  Church  style.    Only  since  the  his- 

*  Grundlagen  u.  Grundfragen  zur  evang.  Kirchenimisik.     p.  131. 
t  Ueber  de?t  Chorgesan^  in  der  evang.  Kirche.    pp.  21,  22. 


96 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


toric  Liturgy  and  its  accompanying  treasures  of  choir  and  congre- 
gational song  have  again  been  made  the  subject  of  careful  study, 
has  a  reaction  set  in,  which,  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  yet  gather  suf- 
ficient strength  to  banish  from  our  churches  the  world  over  every 
trace  of  ignoble  music,  whether  for  choir,  organ  or  congregation. 

Of  the  present  little  need  be  said.  We  know  to  what  depths 
choir  music,  in  common  with  Church  music  generally,  has  fallen. 
Much  of  its  utter  demoralization  has  no  doubt  come  from  the  so- 
called  non-liturgical  churches  in  which  choir  music  is  not  and  can 
not  be  an  integral  part  of  the  service.  In  these  it  is  therefore 
too  often  made  to  serve  only  the  purpose  of  attracting  and  enter- 
taining. The  music  used,  generally  suits  the  purpose.  Perhaps 
it  is  a  rollicking  Gloria  from  a  Haydn  Mass;  or  a  sentimental 
excerpt  from  one  of  the  so-called  "sacred"  compositions  of  Rossi- 
ni, Donizetti  or  Mercadante;  or  an  arrangement  from  Gounod's 
*'Faust";  or  Sullivan's  "Lost  Chord";  or  more  frequently  one 
of  the  numerous  maudlin,  made-to-order  productions  that  afford 
members  of  quartet  choirs  the  coveted  opportunity  of  displaying 
their  vocal  art  !  And  to  this  has  it  likewise  come  in  many 
Lutheran  churches.  We  have  forgotten  our  birth-right,  we  have 
despised  our  heritage,  and  have  too  often  fallen  into  the  ways  of 
those  about  us. 

I  would,  however,  lay  myself  open  to  serious  and  just  criti- 
cism were  I  to  maintain  that  no  choir  music  worthy  of  the  name, 
and  fit  to  be  ranked  as  Church  music,  has  been  written  since  the 
new  tonality  displaced  the  old.  Composers  who  have  made  a 
careful  study  of  the  old  forms,  and  who  have  had  a  reverent  re- 
gard for  that  which  the  Church  requires,  have  produced  many 
works  that  combine  with  the  noble  dignity  of  the  old  forms,  the 
grace  and  charm  of  the  new.  Especially  is  this  true  of  those  com- 
posers for  the  English  Cathedral- service,  who,  adhering  closely 
to  the  words  and  spirit  of  the  historic  Liturgy  of  the  English 
Church,  have  enriched  the  repertoire  of  choirs  with  Service-mu- 
sic and  anthems  that  are  in  every  way  worthy  of  a  place  along- 
side of  the  best  compositions  derived  from  the  so-called  classical 
age.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  most  pronounced  purist  need  not 
hesitate  for  a  moment  to  use  numerous  compositions  of  such  very 
modern  writers  as  Samuel  Sebastian  Wesley  and  John  Goss, 
"Church  musicians"  as  Barrett  says,  "who  made  offering  of  the 
purest  style  of  devotional  music,  the  inheritance  of  a  long  line  of 


THE  DKTKRIORATION  OF  CHOIR  MUSIC. 


97 


illustrious  predecessors,  with  such  additions  as  would  come  from 
the  right  use  of  modern  knowledge."^ 

I  close  this  review  of  the  causes  which  have  so  generally  led 
to  the  deterioration  of  choir  music  with  the  observation  of  Bach- 
mann,  that  whilst  we  are  bound  to  take  into  account  the  intel- 
lectual and  musical  progress  of  the  last  four  hundred  years,  we 
must  nevertheless  build  up  Church  music,  in  the  sense  of  appro- 
priate art  music,  on  the  basis  furnished  by  the  Reformation 
period,  if  we  would  exclude  exotic  and  foreign  growths  from  the 
Service  and  have  real  Church  music.  This  means  for  us  that  we 
must  again  think  of  choir  music  in  its  relation  to  the  Liturgy, 
and  again  make  a  careful  study  of  those  models  that  give  the 
portions  of  the  Liturgy  appropriately  assigned  to  the  choir  their 
most  faithful  expression;  for  apart  from  the  Liturgy  and  its  sug- 
gested thoughts,  choir  music  has  no  place  in  the  Lutheran  Service, 
and  can  serve  no  useful  purpose.  When  once  again  composers, 
organists,  choir  masters  and  ministers  will  so  deal  with  the  sub- 
ject, then  may  we  hope  to  hear  in  our  Lutheran  churches  a  mu- 
sical service  worthy  of  our  Liturgy,  and  altogether  in  consonance 
with  the  principles  that  dominated  the  Golden  Age  of  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Music — Catholic  as  well  as  Protestant. 

*  English  Church  Composers,    p.  167. 


CHURCH  CHOIR  TRAINING. 


BY  MR.   C.  A.  MARKS. 


Thb  first  question  which  presents  itself  for  consideration,  on  the 
subject  of  Church  choir  training,  is  the  formation  of  the  choir. 
This  is  in  many  cases  the  most  difficuU  problem  to  solve,  for  in 
some  localities  it  is  not  only  difficult  to  secure  voices  to  balance 
the  choir  properly,  but  to  have  the  four  parts  represented.  The 
part  most  difficult  to  secure  and  generally  the  weakest,  is  of 
course  the  tenor. 

Where  you  have  a  choir  of  fifteen  or  twenty  voices  and  only 
one  tenor,  it  is  certainly  difficult  to  have  successful  singing,  or 
where  the  choir  is  much  smaller,  one  of  the  parts  missing  per- 
haps, and  apparently  no  available  material  at  hand;  where  such 
conditions  exist,  the  one  solitary  person  who  gets  all  the  blame 
is  the  organist  or  choir-master.  For  people  have  an  idea  that 
any  one  who  is  willing  to  come  into  the  choir  can  sing,  and  those 
who  are  not  willing,  and  ca7i  sing,  can  be  gotten  by — "coaxing" 
— I  suppose,  and  allowing  them  to  sing  a  solo  every  Sunday. 

I  should  have  said  in  the  beginning,  that  I  am  speaking  of 
volunteer  choirs,  or  paid  quartettes  with  a  volunteer  chorus. 

The  best  place  to  secure  choir  members  is  in  your  own  con- 
gregation, and  the  place  in  the  congregation  is  the  Sunday 
School.  By  having  members  of  the  choir  who  are  members  of 
the  congregation,  you  are  sure  to  have  them  on  Sundays.  The}- 
are  more  regular  at  rehearsals,  for  it  is  natural  for  them  to  take 
more  interest  in  their  own  Church  than  they  would  in  another. 

The  organist  or  choir-master  can  very  soon  find  out  whether 
(xcviii) 


CHURCH  CHOIR  TRAINING. 


99 


or  not  there  is  any  desirable  material  in  the  Sunday  School.  If 
there  is  material  that  is  desirable,  but  possibly  not  far  enough 
advanced  to  join  the  regular  choir,  he  can  very  easily  train  them 
privately,  and  in  a  very  short  time  may  have  the  singers  needed 
to  balance  the  choir. 

There  is  another  advantage  in  securing  young  material. 
They  will  grow  into  the  habit  of  singing,  so  that  as  they  grow 
older  it  becomes  more  and  more  both  a  pleasure  and  a  recreation 
for  them. 

A  great  deal  of  tact  must  be  used  in  bringing  new  members 
into  the  choir.  The  musical  element,  unfortunately  must  be  of 
secondary  importance  for  the  time  being,  for  no  one  who  is  not 
congenial  to  the  rest  of  the  members  should  be  admitted,  or  one 
who  is  probably  a  disturbing  element.  No  matter  what  their 
musical  qualifications  are,  keep  them  out  of  the  choir  if  you  wish 
to  have  peace  in  the  family. 

In  order  to  avoid  unpleasantness,  the  organist  or  choir-mas- 
ter would  better  propose  all  applicants  at  a  choir  rehearsal ;  tell  the 
members  that  if  there  is  no  objection  such  and  such  a  person  will 
be  invited  to  become  a  member  of  the  choir.  If  no  one  objects, 
it  will  relieve  the  choir-master  greatly  for  the  future.  If  there  is 
an  objection,  the  proper  thing  to  do  would  be  to  find  out  if  the 
objection  is  valid,  if  not,  it  might  be  overcome.  If  the  objection 
is  valid,  then  it  is  better  to  have  that  particular  person  out  of  the 
choir  than  in  it. 

HOW  TO   KEKP  THK  MEMBERS  AFTER  THE  CHOIR 
IS  ORGANIZED. 

"Church  choirs  have  the  character  of  being  troublesome  and 
difiicult  to  manage.  But  in  the  disturbances  which  take  place  in 
some  churches  the  singers  are  not  always  to  blame.  If  Church 
choirs  are  treated  with  tact  and  consideration,  they  will  generally 
respond  and  do  their  work  earnestly  and  well." 

The  trouble  in  most  congregations  is,  that  the  congregation 
seems  to  think  it  its  duty  to  continually  criticize  the  choir,  find 
fault  with  it,  but  rarely  to  give  a  word  of  commendation.  They 
regard  the  choir  as  a  sort  of  mechanical  apparatus  for  the  pro- 
duction of  sound. 

But  the  fault  does  not  always  rest  with  the  choir  or  the  con- 


100 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


gregation,  but  with  the  organist  or  choir-master.  He  should  use 
music  that  is  attractive,  music  that  is  good.  Not  necessarily 
every  good  composition  is  attractive  to  all  persons.  Tastes  differ. 
The  composition  may  be  ever  so  good,  the  choir  may  not  care  for 
it.  It  would  not  be  very  good  judgment  for  the  choir-master  to 
say,  ''the  composition  is  good,  and  therefore  you  must  learn  it." 
I  do  not  mean  that  he  should  subject  himself  to  all  the  whims 
and  fancies  of  a  choir,  but  such  cases  as  I  have  mentioned,  I  be- 
lieve are  not  uncommon  and  must  be  treated  with  tact.  The  or- 
ganist or  choir-master  must,  or  at  least  should  be  a  student  of 
human  nature,  he  should  treat  the  members  of  the  choir  with 
consideration,  he  should  lead  them  without  letting  them  know 
that  they  are  led.  Not  with  an  air  of  overwhelming  superiority 
because  he  can  play  a  Bach  fugue,  a  sonata,  and  perhaps  know 
a  little  harmony  and  counterpoint,  he  must  not  treat  them  as 
though  it  were  a  high  and  holy  privilege  for  the  singers  and  the 
rest  of  mankind,  if  he  only  condescended  to  touch  them  with  the 
tips  of  his  professional  fingers. 

I  repeat,  the  choir  should  be  treated  with  tact  and  consider- 
ation, "and  a  hearty  acknowledgment  made  of  the  honorable 
place  which  the  choir  occupies  as  a  factor  in  Divine  service." 

Another  disturbing  factor  in  choirs  occasionally,  is  the  pas- 
tor. J.  S.  Curwen  says,  "Some  clergymen — it  is  of  no  use  to  ig- 
nore the  fact — need  reminding  that  the  organist,  the  choir-master 
and  the  members  of  the  choir  are  their  own  flesh  and  blood,  ca- 
pable of  the  same  higher  feelings,  open  to  the  same  influences  as 
they  themselves." 

I  believe  in  some  volunteer  choirs  much  trouble  is  experi- 
enced in  the  disposition  of  solos.  My  advice  would  be,  avoid 
anthems  with  solos. 

TRAINING  OF  THK  CHOIR. 

There  is  no  "royal  route"  to  success.  The  first  principle  to 
be  taught  is  the  production  of  tone. 

I  do  not  mean  that  a  choir  rehearsal  should  be  made  a 
school  for  voice  culture,  but  they  should  be  taught  that  in  a 
chorus  the  quality  of  tone  should  be  full  and  pure.  Not  mere 
noise,  but  a  smooth,  fluent  tone  without  harshness.  A  little 
practice  before  each  rehearsal  on  long  sustained  tones,  using 


CHURCH  CHOIR  TRAINING. 


101 


the   different   vowels   like  "ah,"  o,  etc.,  is  very  beneficial. 

Correct  intonation  is  absolutely  necessary.  Singing  out  of 
tune  should  not  be  allowed. 

The  "attack,"  that  is  the  beginning  of  every  phrase,  should 
be  made  with  precision  and  unanimity,  so  that  the  different  parts 
sound  as  one  voice.  The  same  care  must  be  taken  in  ending  a 
tone. 

"Good  attack  is  of  such  vital  importance  that  if  it  be  absent 
there  is  very  small  probability  of  the  piece  or  the  performance 
being  tolerable,  let  alone  pleasure  giving." 

The  greatest  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  pronunciation 
of  words.  Careless  pronunciation  affects  vocal  resonance.  Sing- 
ers who  articulate  their  words  correctly  produce  a  better  tone 
than  those  who  have  a  defective  pronunciation.  Yet  it  is  one  of 
the  most  glaring  faults  amongst  chorus  singers.  For  instance, 
the  wwd  "thy"  is  pronounced  "thy-ee,"  "evil,"  "e-vul,"  etc., 
etc. 

"The  text  should  be  so  enunciated  that  the  audience  can 
follow  it.  It  can  be  done  and  therefore  it  ought  to  be  done. 
The  text  is  intended  to  be  heard,  not  to  be  lost  in  indistinct 
mumblings." 

Good  phrasing  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  singing, 
though  much  neglected. 

"By  phrasing  is  meant  the  division  of  the  melody  into  con- 
nected groups  of  notes,  each  of  wdiich  group  is  to  be  sung  in  a 
single  breath." 

In  order  to  phrase  w^ell  the  chorus  must  understand  what 
they  are  singing.  Breath  must  not  be  taken  in  the  middle  of  a 
phrase,  much  less  betw^een  the  syllables  of  a  w^ord. 

The  chorus  must  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the  composition 
and  give  the  proper  stress  to  the  accented  notes  without  jerking. 

To  sing  with  expression  the  choir  must  pay  strict  attention 
to  the  meaning  of  the  words.  The  text  should  be  carefully 
studied.  The  organist  or  choir-master  particularly,  must  study 
the  composition  thoroughly  and  then  decide  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  different  ideas  are  to  be  conveyed.  Strict  attention  must 
be  paid  to  phrases  where  a  ''cres''  is  to  be  made.  The  singers 
must  not  be  allow^ed  to  start  a  phrase  "7;^,"  otherwise  the 

effect  will  be  entirely  lost.  The  same  holds  good  for  ''accel.'' 
and  ' ' ritardando'"  passages. 


102 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


The  chorus  should  not  only  be  able  to  sing  and 
but  all  the  mtermediate  shades  of  expression. 

TONE  COLOUR. 

An  English  chorus-master  said  a  short  time  ago,  "tone  col- 
our of  voice  never  seems  to  have  received  any  attention."  This 
is  rather  too  sweeping  a  statement.  But  I  am  absolutely  sure 
that  it  is  woefully  neglected  in  most  choirs  and  choruses.  I  be- 
lieve it  is  the  cause  that  the  majority  of  oratorio  renditions  are 
not  more  appreciated.  The  singers  do  not  seem  to  know  what 
they  are  singing  about,  neither  do  they  seem  to  care,  as  long  as 
they  sing  in  time  and  tune.  If  the  singers  are  ignorant  of  what 
they  are  singing,  or  at  least  seem  to  be,  you  cannot  expect  the 
audience  to  be  very  much  enthused.  These  performances  are 
generally  colourless  without  any  regard  for  the  text  or  the  mean- 
ing of  it.  Thej^  will  sing  "Stone  him  to  death"  with  as  much 
accentuation  and  sforzando  effects  as  they  would  sing  "Happy 
and  blest  are  the  departed"  or,  "O  sacred  Head  now  wounded." 

Mr.  H.  K.  Krehbiel,  in  "How  to  Listen  to  Music"  says, 
"There  is  no  reason  why  characteristic  expression,  by  which  I 
mean  expression  which  goes  to  the  genius  of  the  melodic  phrase 
when  it  springs  from  the  verbal,  should  be  ignored."  He  says 
further  regarding  the  choruses  of  ''The  Messiah:''  "If  the  char- 
acteristic physiognomy  of  each  chorus  could  but  be  disclosed,  the 
grand  old  work,  which  seems  hackneyed  to  so  many,  would  ac- 
quire amazing  freshness,  eloquence,  and  power  Then 

should  we  hear  the  tones  of  amazed  adoration  in  "Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God,"  and  of  cruel  scorn  in  "He  trusted  in  God  that 
He  would  deliver  Him." 

Now  this  can  all  be  applied  to  our  choirs.  While  choral 
music  of  the  ecclesiastical  type,  (I  am  speaking  of  the  early  ec- 
clesiastical type)  is  perhaps  not  as  dramatic  as  the  examples  I 
have  quoted,  nevertheless  the  illustration  can  be  applied  for  the 
proper  interpretation  of  those  earlier  choruses. 

To  give  an  intelligent  rendition  of  any  chorus  whether  an- 
cient or  modern,  I  believe  tone  colour  is  essential. 

GKNKRAI,  HINTS. 

Great  care  must  be  taken  not  to  fatigue  the  singers.  Very 
little  can  be  accomplished  after  singers  grow  tired. 


CHURCH  CHOIR  TRAINING. 


103 


Richard  Mann  says,  "Keep  your  choir  in  good  humour  with 
themselves;  never  let  them  get  sulky  at  their  own  failures;  rather 
stop  with  the  lesson  half  finished." 

Rehearse  each  part  separately.  This  may  not  always  be 
necessary  when  you  have  a  composition  where  the  voices  are 
massed  together.  But  in  an  anthem  which  is  imitative  or  fugal, 
the  parts  should  be  rehearsed  separately. 

If  the  soprano  part  should  happen  to  be  high,  so  that  it  is 
fatiguing  to  sing  it  often,  the  alto,  tenor  and  bass  should  be  re- 
hearsed alone  until  they  know  their  parts  fairly  well,  before  the 
soprano  is  tried  with  them. 

Difiicult  passages  should  be  practiced  very  slowly  at  first,  the 
tempo  increased  afterwards. 

The  organist  or  choir-master  should  use  the  greatest  care 
and  discretion  in  selecting  music  for  the  choir.  Very  often 
choirs  try  to  sing  anthems  which  are  much  too  difiicult  for  them. 
Because  "Thanks  be  to  God"  from  "Elijah"  or,  "Prepare  ye 
the  w^ay  of  the  Lord"  by  Garrett,  are  good  musical  compositions, 
it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  they  are  good  things  for  your 
choir  to  attempt  to  sing.  Your  choir  may  be  too  small,  or  worse 
yet,  you  may  not  have  the  necessary  material. 

Not  long  ago  I  heard  a  choir  of  seven  decidedly  mediocre 
voices  make  a  desperate  effort  to  sing  the  "Hallelujah  Chorus" 
from  "The  Messiah."  Some  of  you  who  have  possibly  heard 
similar  attempts  can  imagine  the  result,  those  who  have  not,  can 
form  no  idea  what  it  sounds  like. 

On  the  other  hand  are  those  who  call  everything  "classical 
music"  which  is  not  "trash."  Because  they  cannot  sing  "clas- 
sical music"  and  the  congregation  does  not  appreciate  it,  they  of 
course  sing  "trash!"  When  there  is  so  much  good  music  print- 
ed, of  all  grades  of  difficulty  and  for  a  few  cents  a  copy,  there 
is  no  necessity  of  subscribing  for  cheap  "Choir  Journals"  con- 
taining trashy  music  which  is  as  ruinous  to  a  good  musical  taste 
as  a  dime  novel  is  to  a  good  literary  taste. 

The  choir-master  may  say,  "I  should  like  to  sing  abetter 
quality  of  music,  but  the  congregation  object,  they  do  not  like 
it." 

W.  H.  Hadow  in  "Studies  in  Modern  Music"  says,  "the 
great  doctrines  of  the  Church  should  be  exempt  from  criticism, 
because  it  is  not  given  to  man  to  comprehend  them,  the  princi- 


104 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


pies  of  art  should  be  accepted  in  silence  by  a  public  which  knows 
nothing  of  the  inspiration  from  which  they  come." 

If  it  is  impossible  for  the  choir  to  sing  a  better  grade  of 'mu- 
sic, then  sing  a  simple  hymn  tune  for  an  anthem,  or  perhaps 
none  at  all;  you  will  thereby  not  aid  in  conferring  royalties  on 
writers  who  would  far  better  be  following  some  other  profession. 

There  are  those  again  who  use  for  anthems  arrangements 
from  sonatas,  symphonies  and  operas.  The  music  in  itself  may 
be  all  right,  but  the  law  of  association  is  so  strong  sometimes, 
that  we  violate  the  principle  which  affects  our  demeanor  during 
the  Service,  viz.,  the  principle  of  reverence.  Such  music  then  is 
truly,  as  some  one  has  said,  "music  in  the  Church  instead  of 
Church  music." 

Permit  me  to  make  a  plea  for  the  music  of  the  Reformation. 
lyCt  us  become  acquainted  with  the  pure  ecclesiastical  type  of 
Church  music.  The  compositions  of  Prsetorius,  Kccard,  Bach, 
etc.,  of  which  most  of  us  know  nothing  and  the  rest  apparently 
very  little. 

In  choir  rehearsals  too  much  time  is  generally  devoted  to  the 
practicing  of  anthems  and  not  enough  to  the  service  and  hymn 
tunes. 

Have  the  choir  sing  "<2  capella''  as  much  as  possible.  It 
will  aid  enunciation  and  articulation. 

Successful  choir  training  may  be  summed  up  in  the  follow- 
ing by  the  Rev.  J.  Troutbeck:  "Adequate  knowledge,  both  the- 
oretical and  practical,  painstaking  industry,  perseverance,  pa- 
tience, good  temper,  tact  and  firmness,  are  alone  to  be  relied 
upon  to  deserve  and  ultimately  to  achieve  success  in  the  manage- 
ment and  training  of  a  choir. ' ' 


PRELUDES  AND  POSTEUDES. 


BY   MR.    C.  A.  MARKS. 


Preludes,  Offertoires  and  Postludes  are  the  names  given  to  the 
pieces  of  organ  music,  pla3'ed  before,  during  and  after  Divine 
Service  and  generally  referred  to  as  Voluntaries;  possibly  derived 
from  the  fact  that  from  their  not  forming  a  part  of  the  regular 
Service,  it  was  optional  with  the  organist  to  play  them  or  not. 

The  Prelude  was  developed  during  the  seventeenth  century. 
In  England  it  took  the  form  of  embellished  hymn  tunes. 
Nearly  all  the  musicians  of  that  time,  like  Croft,  Greene,  Boyce, 
Keeble,  Battishill,  Kelway,  S.  Wesley,  etc.,  were  writers  of  Vol- 
untaries. 

In  Germany  the  Prelude  was  perfected  through  masters  like 
Samuel  Scheldt,  Reinken,  Pachelbel  and  Buxtehude,  in  which 
the  choral  was  the  theme  for  a  figurated  setting.  This  was 
brought  to  the  highest  state  of  development  by  John  Sebastian 
Bach  in  his  choral  Preludes,  which  to  this  day  have  not  been  ex- 
celled . 

Much  of  the  playing  at  that  time  was  extemporaneous,  an 
art  which  is  practically  lost  now.  An  organist  was  judged  to  a 
large  extent  by  his  skill  as  an  extempore  player. 

Organists  nowadays  strive  to  become  virtuosos.  In  fact 
they  attempt  to  turn  the  organ  into  a  sort  of  second  rate  orches- 
tra, forgetting  that  the  organ  has  so  noble  a  tone  quality,  and  so 
many  resources  of  its  own,  that  it  needs  not  servilely  imitate  the 
orchestra. 

The  modern  organ,  with  an  infinite  variety  of  stops  is  an  in- 

(cv) 


106 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


strument  which  allows  such  boundless  scope  for  indiscretion, 
that  its  very  capabilities  are  its  weakness  in  the  hands  of  an  in- 
judicious or  ignorant  player. 

That  the  Prelude  should  lead  up  to  the  Service,  that  it 
should  be  devotional  and  prepare  the  congregation  for  what  is 
coming,  is  a  subject  thought  of  by  few  organists.  The  desire  to 
show  off,  to  make  a  display  of  the  fancy  stops  in  the  organ  is 
their  chief  and  only  aim.  Not  only  in  the  Voluntaries  they  play 
is  this  the  case,  but  also  in  accompanying  the  choir  and  congre- 
gation. But  in  the  Preludes,  Offertoires  and  Postludes  the  organ- 
ist is  entirely  alone,  unhampered  by  the  choir  or  congregation, 
practically  '  'lord  of  all  he  surveys."  Then  it  is  when  he  refreshes 
your  memory  with  operatic  airs  from  Zampa  to  the  "Intermezzo" 
from'  the  "Cavalleria  Rusticana,"  and  even  "Narcissus,"  that 
piece  de  resistance  of  nearly  all  street  pianos.  The  identical  place 
in  the  Service  where  the  organist  personally  could  do  the  most 
good  he  does  the  most  harm. 

It  is  not  an  unusual  thing  in  these  days  to  hear  an  organist 
play  the  Prelude  to  "Lohengrin"  for  an  Offertoire  or  perhaps  pull 
out  the  Vox  Humana  and  Tremolo  and  then  shiver  and  shake 
through  "Ah,  I  have  sighed  to  rest  me,"  from  "II  Trovatore" 
and  then  wind  up  with  the  march  from  Tannhaiiser  for  a  Post- 
lude.  If  you  question  him  about  it  he  will  say,  "the  congre- 
gation wants  it,  I  must  do  it  in  order  to  be  popular  and  retain  my 
position."  There  may  be  a  grain  of  truth  in  this;  congregations 
like  to  be  entertained,  but  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  chief 
fault  lies  with  the  organist.  He  likes  to  play  that  kind  of  music, 
it  is  to  his  taste.  Then  again,  a  great  many  do  not  know  better. 
So  long  as  a  composition  is  good  they  cannot  see  why  it  should 
not  be  played  in  church,  whether  the  music  is  taken  from  the 
Meistersinger  or  whether  it  is  a  choral  by  Bach.  They  have  not 
learned  to  distinguish  between  concert  music  and  worship  music. 
We  have  too  many  organ  players  and  not  enough  organists;  too 
many  who  try  to  play  a  Bach  fugue  or  a  Mendelssohn  sonata 
before  they  can  play  a  simple  hymn  tune  or  a  response.  I  do 
not  wish  to  be  understood  that  I  discourage  the  studying  of 
Bach,  for,  on  the  contrary,  I  do  not  believe  any  one  can  become 
a  good  organist  without  studying  Bach,  particularly  the  choral 
Preludes  for  a  Church  organist.  The  organ  is  primarily  a  poly- 
phonic instrument.    Polyphony  is  true  music.    Bach's  music  is 


PRKIvUDES   AND  POSTlvUDKS. 


107 


polyphonic  and  there  has  been  no  advance  in  this  branch  of  mu- 
sic since  the  days  of  Bach.  The  point  I  wish  to  make  is  this: 
Organists  study  Bach  and  the  works  of  other  masters  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  everything  else  and  when  they  are  asked  to  play  a  simple 
service  they  are  hopelessly  at  sea.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable, 
that  if  left  to  themselves  they  would  play  the  ''Gloria  Patri^'" 
''pianissimo"  and  the  "Kyrie,'"  "fortissijno.'' 

There  is  also  a  notion  that  the  opening  Voluntary  should  be 
as  soft  and  the  closing  one  as  loud  as  possible.  Some  organists 
have  a  habit  of  making  such  a  deafening  noise  as  the  congrega- 
tion retires,  that  it  is  necessary  to  rush  for  the  door  with  all  speed 
after  the  benediction,  lest  one  should  get  caught  in  the  storm;  or, 
as  a  friend  of  mine  said  after  attending  Service  in  a  certain 
Church,  "after  the  benediction  we  were  stunned  out  of  Church 
with  nothing  less  than  violence."''^  Such  a  habit  is  in  the  worst 
taste. 

The  only  possible  excuse  for  Voluntaries  is  that  they  should 
assist  the  Service.  "That  music  without  words  may  minister  to 
the  religious  feeling  is  a  fact  to  which  the  experience  of  most 
people  bear  witness." 

The  organist  should  rise  to  the  spiritual  importance  of  his 
duty,  and  seek  to  make  his  Voluntaries  harmonize  with  the  spirit 
of  the  worshippers.  He  should  become  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Service.  Permit  me  to  quote  from  Cornell's  Majiiial  of 
Roman  Chant,  which  is  intended  for  Roman  Catholic  organists 
but  is  applicable  to  organists  of  all  denominations: 

"The  manner  of  playing  the  organ  at  the  time  of  the  sacred 
functions  should  be  grave  and  dignified,  so  as  to  excite  devotion; 
and  consequently,  the  custom  of  performing,  at  such  times,  live- 
ly marches,  operatic  airs,  dance  music,  etc.,  and  in  general,  a 
light  and  frivolous  manner  of  playing  is  an  abuse,  and  one  which 
those  who  pre.side  over  Churches  ought  to  take  pains  to  abolish. 

Clergymen  about  to  engage  an  organist  are  advised  to  look 
out  for  one  who  is  a  good  harmonist,  and  well  versed  in  the  art 
of  modulation,  even  though  he  be  of  limited  execution;  such  a 
one,  they  may  rest  assured,  will  serve  the  church  better  than  one 
whose  chief  recommendation  in  his  agility  of  finger,  and  facility 

*  There  is,  however,  an  excuse  for  this.  An  organist  in  one  of  the  large  cities 
told  me  that  he  had  to  play  loud  when  the  congregation  retires  in  order  to  drown 
their  conversation. 


108 


ESSAYS  ON  CHURCH  MUSIC. 


of  producing  startling  effects.  Far  better,  when  a  Church  organ- 
ist is  in  question,  is  a  moderate  degree  of  execution,  with  a  good 
knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  harmony,  than  a  brilliant  execution, 
without  that  knowledge,  or  with  but  a  moderate  degree  of  it;  the 
latter  might  suffice  for  a  good  pianist,  but  for  a  good  organist  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  harmony  is  indispensable  if  not  the  prin- 
cipal requisite." 

In  a  great  many  churches  the  Voluntary  has  to  cease  with 
the  entry  of  the  minister,  and  to  a  player  who  appreciates  form 
and  design,  it  is  distressing  on  the  one  hand  to  stop  before  the 
end  of  a  piece,  or  on  the  other  hand,  to  have  to  tack  on  a  post- 
script to  some  one  else's  conclusion,  in  order  to  fill  up  time.  I 
would  therefore  urge  to  try  and  restore  that  almost  lost  art  of 
extemporizing.  It  is  a  difficult  art  and  one  dare  hardly  recom- 
mend it,  for  the  extemporizing  usually  heard  is  of  a  most  melan- 
choly kind.  Sustaining  disconnected  chords  which  bear  no  rela- 
tion to  each  other,  on  one  keyboard,  and  on  another  playing 
apeggios  and  the  chromatic  scale  with  a  four  foot  flute,  the 
whole  diversified  with  endless  "swell  pumping"  is  worse,  or, 
equally  as  deplorable  as  is  the  playing  of  secular  airs. 

It  is  not  my  purpose,  nor  is  it  within  my  province  to  give 
specific  directions  how  to  acquire  extempore  playing.  It  is  large- 
ly a  natural  talent,  but  may  be  acquired  by  studying  the  works 
of  Bach  and  other  masters,  and  then  taking  a  simple  hymn  tune 
and  elaborating  on  it. 

Organ  pupils  will  not  only  find  improvising  a  great  advan- 
tage, but  they  will  derive  an  immense  amount  of  pleasure  out  of 
it.* 

In  closing  I  wish  to  quote  from  the  preface  of  I^a  Leobe's 
Tune  Book: 

"In  order  to  obtain  the  true  and  beneficial  effect  of  an  organ, 
it  is  required,  that  the  organist  should  enter  into  the  spirit  of  his 
office,  and  become  actuated  by  the  same  principle  that  ought  to 
influence  every  other  servant  in  the  house  of  God.  Without 
this,  he  not  only  neglects  his  duty,  but  he  betrays  his  trust. 

There  is  scarcely  a  person  in  the  church  who  more  easily 
exposes  his  inattention  and  want  of  true  devotion,  than  the 
organist.    Every  musician  possessed  of  sound  musical  taste  and 

*  Organ  Accompaniment  and  Extempore  Playing'''  by  Geo.  E.  Whiting.  A 
great  deal  of  knowledge  and  benefit  may  be  derived  by  studying  this  work. 


PREI.UDES   AND  POSTLUDES. 


109 


judgment,  will  readily  acknowledge  that  simplicity  is  a  grand 
source  of  beauty  in  Church  music.  But  there  is  still  something 
of  far  greater  importance  than  our  taste  and  judgment,  that  de- 
termines the  real  degree  of  excellence  in  Church  music:  this  is 
nothing  less  than  the  blessing  of  God  conveyed  unto  us  through 
the  means  He  deigns  to  employ.  An  organist  duly  impressed 
with  this  idea,  would  think  himself  highly  blameable,  if,  by  the 
interspersion  of  his  often  very  heterogeneous  decorations,  and 
unsuitable  interludes,  he  should  destro}^  their  great  design.  He 
will  even  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  Prelude,  suited  to  the  solem- 
nity of  the  occasion,  endeavor  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  assem- 
bly for  the  ensuing  service,  carefully  avoiding  every  strain  that 
might  produce  a  contrary  effect.  Such  an  organist,  possessed  of 
but  few  powers  as  to  execution,  may  be  of  more  real  service  to 
the  Church  of  Christ,  than  the  most  skillful  professor,  destitute 
of  the  above  principles." 


PASTOR  AND  ORGANIST. 


THESES  PRESENTED  BY  THE  REV.  PROF.  A.  SPAETH,  D.  D.,  EE.  D. 


I. 

The  common  field  of  operation  on  which  Pastor  and  Organist 
meet  is  the  public  Service  of  the  congregation  in  the  house  of 
God. 

II. 

More  particularly  it  is  the  musical  part  of  that  Servdce, 
which  is  to  be  conducted  in  such  a  manner  that  the  congregation 
may  thereby  be  edified. 

III. 

The  form  of  the  Service  itself,  in  its  general  outline  as  well 
as  in  its  details,  is  determined  by  the  authority  of  the  Church. 

IV. 

The  full  Service,  as  given  in  the  Chiuxh  Book,  with  the 
proper  music  that  belongs  to  it,  is  to  be  considered  by  Pastor  and 
Organist,  as  the  ideal  which  both  must  strive  to  realize  in  the 
local  congregation,  to  the  best  of  their  ability. 

V. 

The  more  loyal  to  that  Service  both  Pastor  and  Organist  will 
be,  the  less  will  there  be  an  occasion  for  friction  or  conflict  be- 
tween them, 
(cx) 


PASTOR  AND  ORGANIST. 


Ill 


VI. 

While  both,  Pastor  and  Organist,  are  the  servants  of  the 
Church  and  of  the  local  congregation,  in  their  respective  minis- 
trations, the  Pastor,  as  the  principal  office  bearer  in  the  Church, 
is  primarily  responsible  that  all  things  should  be  done  decently 
and  in  order. 

VII. 

In  order  to  take  this  responsibility,  in  all  details  of  the  Ser- 
vice, our  pastors  must  be  taught,  in  our  Theological  Seminaries, 
not  only  to  understand  and  appreciate  the  principles,  structure 
and  history  of  our  Service,  but  also,  how  to  conduct  it. 

VIII. 

To  this  end  they  must  be  made  familiar  with  the  proper  mu- 
sic, both  of  hymns  and  liturgical  responses,  and  ought  to  be  able 
to  form  a  judgment  even  on  Choir  Music  that  is  to  be  used. 

IX. 

The  Organist  of  the  congregation  must  not  only  be  a  pro- 
fessional musician,  able  to  play  the  organ  and  lead  the  congrega- 
tion and  choir  in  their  singing,  but  ought  to  be  a  member  of  the 
Church,  at  home  in  her  spirit  and  in  her  Service. 

X. 

To  fit  our  Organists  for  this  position  provision  must  be  made 
for  special  coxirses  in  Church  Music,  either  in  musical  conserva- 
tories, or  in  our  Seminaries,  theological  or  teachers'  seminaries. 


